l"/^'^*^;'i.Vs 


THE   GREEN   BOOK 

CHURCH  MKMBKRSHIP— WiL..    iV   i;:.,  vVii 
ARE  ITS  PRIVII.EGBS  AND  OBLIGatton'-^ 
AND  WHAT  IS  ITS  KNr 


MRS    HORACE    BROCK 


tihvavy  of  t:he  theological  ^tminaty 

PRINCETON  .  NEW  JERSEY 

FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 
ROBERT  ELLIOTT  SPEER 


BX  5950  .B76  1920 
Brock,  Horace, 

The  green  book 


( 


THE  GREEN  BOOK 


THE  GREEN  BOOK 

Price,  50  cents  a  copy,  paper,  including  postage. 
$1.25  a  copy,  cloth,  postage  not  included. 

This  book  and  other  literature  of  St.  Mark's 
League  of  Intercession  may  be  obtained  from 

Mrs.  Horace  Brock,  Chairman, 
1920  Spruce  Street,  Philadelphia. 


APR  13  1959 
CHURCH  MEMBERSHIP— WHAT  IT  IS,  WHAT 


THE  GREEN   BO 


.^ 


ARE  ITS  PRIVILEGES  AND  OBLIGATIONS, 
AND   WHAT   IS  ITS   END 


BY 


MRS.   HORACE  BROCK 


"And  he  shall  be  like  a  tree  planted 
by  the  waterside :  that  will  bring  forth 
his  fruit  in  due  season." — Ps.  1 :  3. 


SECOND  EDITION 


ISSUED    BY 

ST.  MARK'S  LEAGUE  OF  INTERCESSION 
PHILADELPHIA 

1920 


TO 

JOHN  AND  DEBORAH 


"I  have  no  greater  joy  than  to  hear  that 
my  children  walk  in  truth." — 3  St.  John  1 :  4. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The;  Green  Book 5 

Joining  the  Church 17 

The   New   Birth 22 

Members  oe  Christ 29 

Ineant   Membership 39 

The  Administration  oe  the  Sacrament  of  Membership 51 

The  Compi^etion  oe  Membership:  Confirmation 58 

Requirements  for  Membership: 

Repentance 65 

Faith 80 

Obijgations    of    Membership: 

The   Threefold   Vow 86 

Duty  to  God 100 

Duty  to  My  Neighbor 125 

The  Church  and  Its  Officers 131 

The  One  Body 143 

Privii<eges  of  Membership  :    Prayer 160 

The  SacramEntai,  System 171 

Privileges  of  Membership: 

The  Matter  and  the  Alinister  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  Holy 

Communion    185 

The    Holy    Communion 197 

The  Christian   Sacrifice 214 

Called  to  be  Saints 232 

Whither  238 

Daily    Self-Examination 238 

Rule  of  Life 239 

Appendix  : 

Father  Figgis  on  Revelation 240 

Father  Figgis  on  Mystery 241 

The  Beginning  of  the  Methodists 243 

Bishop  Gore  on  Church  Unity 244 


THE  GREEN  BOOK 

The  Green  Book  is  a  companion  to  the  little  book  "Inter- 
cessions for  the  Church,"  familiarly  called  "the  Little  Red 
Book"  from  its  red  cover,  symbolizing  the  fire  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  by  Whose  power  we  pray.  The  Green  Book  takes 
its  name  from  its  green  cover,  which  symbolizes  in  the 
Church  our  every-day  Christian  life,  speaking  of  freshness, 
vigor  and  growth. 

The  reading  matter  in  the  Little  Red  Book,  intended  to 
help  those  who  use  it  to  "pray  with  the  understanding," 
seems  to  have  been  useful,  and  so  many  kind  and  interesting 
letters  have  been  received  from  unknown  friends  that  I 
have  been  encouraged  to  write  this  book  on  Church  Mem- 
bership for  the  Nation-wide  campaign,  "to  inform  the  mind 
and  awaken  the  conscience,"  as  our  venerable  Presiding 
Bishop  expresses  its  purpose.  The  book  is  an  attempt  to 
help  in  this  work,  by  presenting  in  a  simple  way,  and  in  an 
inexpensive  form  that  can  be  largely  used  if  found  useful, 
what  Church  Membership  is,  what  it  involves,  what  are  its 
privileges,  and  what  its  end;  following  the  lines  of  the 
Church  Catechism. 

I  would  take  this  opportunity  of  thanking  these  friends 
for  their  letters,  and  of  expressing  my  gratitude  also  for 
the  privilege  given  me  of  helping  some  who  have  written 
me  about  questions  of  the  Faith,  or  asking  advice  about 
books  to  read.  This  is  one  of  the  reasons  I  have  not  given 
the  book  to  a  publisher. 

For  the  theological  definitions  I  have  used  the  words  of 
recognized  teachers  in  the  Church,  and  one  of  the  hopes  I 
have  in  writing,  and  one  of  the  objects  of  the  quotations,  is 
to  arouse  interest  that  will  lead  to  the  reading  of  the  books 
quoted.    To  these  authors,  together  with  my  "spiritual  pas- 

5 


6  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

tors  and  masters,"  I  owe  whatever  of  mine  is  good  in  this 
book,  and  I  feel  I  can  best  show  my  gratitude  by  making 
others  sharers  of  their  helpful  and  stimulating  words.  There 
is  no  better  way  to  teach  a  child  to  read  and  to  like  to 
do  so,  than  to  read  an  interesting  book  to  the  child,  and  at 
the  most  exciting  part  put  it  down.  The  child  will  pick  it 
up  and  finish  it,  as  mothers  know.  I  hope  the  readers  of 
the  Green  Book  will  do  the  same. 

People  have  an  idea  that  religious  books  are  dull,  but  cer- 
tainly no  intelligent  man  or  woman  could  find  Fr.  Figgis* 
Antichrist  and  Other  Sermons,  Fr.  Bull's  Sacramental  Prin- 
ciples, or  Bishop  Gore's  Orders  and  Unity  dull  reading.  How 
many  educated  persons,  troubled  with  the  problems  of  life 
and  with  doubts  about  the  Christian  Faith,  have  ever  heard 
of  The  Gospel  and  Human  Needs  ?  Comparatively  few.  But 
people  are  beginning  to  think  about  deeper  things,  and  to  ask 
questions,  and  we  should  be  prepared  to  answer  the  questions, 
and  to  lend  or  recommend  books  to  inquirers.  The  oppor- 
tunity often  comes  in  ordinary  conversation,  not  religious,  to 
of¥er  to  lend  a  book.  One  of  our  clergy  in  a  college  town  in 
the  West  has  done  a  wonderful  work  in  the  lending  of 
religious  books.  At  least  tYtvy  diocese,  and  where  possible 
every  parish,  should  have  such  a  library,  with  a  librarian  to 
mail  books  when  asked  for,  and  to  keep  the  records. 

The  ignorance  everywhere  regarding  the  facts  of  the 
Faith,  and  the  obligations  and  privileges  of  Church  Mem- 
bership is  appalling.  Sometimes  it  would  be  amusing  if  it 
were  not  so  tragic.  I  believe  it  is  the  Church's  keeping  of 
the  Christian  Year,  so  bitterly  fought  by  the  Puritans,  that 
has  kept  alive  in  our  land  the  Christmas  Story  and  the 
message  of  Calvary  and  Easter.  What  a  pity  Whitsunday 
(I  hope  we  will  keep  the  good  English  name  so  associated 
with  our  history)  and  All  Saints'  were  not  made  holidays. 
Fifty  years  ago  among  the  Pennsylvania  Germans  (Luther- 
ans) Whit  Monday  was  kept  as  one  of  the  great  holidays  of 


THE  GREEN  BOOK  7 

the  year.  It  is  so  no  longer.  As  men  lost  their  faith  in  the 
Holy  Catholic  Church  they  lost  their  faith  in  the  Holy 
Spirit,  practically  if  not  theoretically.  This  is  the  source  of 
our  trouble  today. 

In  the  last  century  agnosticism  was  the  pose  of  the  intel- 
lectuals, but  the  twentieth  century  is  an  age  of  faith  or 
faiths.  A  Religion,  yes,  a  Creed,  is  needed.  Men  felt  this 
before  the  war  and  feel  it  more  now.  The  question  is.  What 
will  be  the  religion  of  the  new  century  in  this  new  world, 
and  in  this  new  country?  Will  it  be  ethical  culture,  social 
service,  socialism,  or  some  hyphenated  Christianity,  the 
product  of  a  hyphenated  Christ,  or  will  it  be  the  Catholic 
Faith?  If  the  latter,  will  it  be  the  narrowed  Latin  develop- 
ment of  the  Faith  or  the  Catholic  Faith  as  expressed  by 
free  English-speaking  peoples  ?    It  is  for  us  to  answer. 

Rome  is  answering  this  question  with  a  big,  well-organ- 
ized plan  of  propaganda.  *Xet  the  rich  American  Protest- 
ants rebuild  the  churches  in  France  and  Belgium,"  we  hear ; 
"our  money  must  be  spent  in  converting  this  new  country." 
The  boast  is  even  made  by  some  that  this  country  will 
become  New  Ireland,  and  Canada  New  France,  and  the  Pope 
an  American  (Irish  of  course),  living  in  New  York.  These 
schemers  and  dreamers  do  not  fear  decaying  Protestantism 
turning  into  purely  social  movements,  losing  more  and  more 
their  religious  character  as  they  give  up  their  creeds.  The 
one  thing  that  blocks  the  progress  of  Romanism  in  this 
country  is  the  American  Episcopal  Church,  with  its  Catholic 
Faith,  Orders,  and  Sacraments.  Christian  Science,  New 
Thought  and  Socialism  are  also  having  drives,  and  making 
many  converts,  largely  by  the  distribution  of  literature  and 
lectures  on  their  creeds.  We  have  no  fault  to  find  with  this 
propaganda.  Proselyting  is  not  wrong.  If  you  think  you 
have  knowledge  of  inestimable  benefit  to  mankind,  it  is  your 
duty  to  make  it  known.  Our  quarrel  with  Rome  is  with 
her  methods  and  her  lack  of  truthfulness. 


8  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

The  attraction  in  all  these  cults  is  that  they  have  some- 
thing definite  to  offer,  and  their  disciples  are  enthusiastic 
missionaries  because  they  believe  in  their  creeds.  It  is  not 
a  creedless  religion  men  v^^ant  to-day  but  a  religion  that 
offers  something  definite  and  that  gives  a  key  to  the 
understanding  of  the  problems  of  life.  Protestantism 
is  losing  its  hold  because  it  has  given  up  its  creed,  and  is 
too  vague.  It  is  the  Catholic  Faith  alone  that  fits  the  facts 
of  life,  and  in  the  Catholic  Church  and  the  Sacraments  the 
needs  of  men  can  be  satisfied.  We  hear  this  from  many 
quarters,  and  the  American  rather  than  the  Latin  expression 
of  the  Faith  v^ill  v^in  men  and  v^omen,  if  only  we  put  it 
before  them  in  its  compelling  beauty  and  charm. 

Something  definite,  yet  supernatural  and  other  worldly, 
men  are  asking  for.  The  growth  of  Spirituahsm  is  due  to 
this  yearning  to  know  something  of  the  other  world,  and 
of  spiritual  beings  and  things.  Fr.  Figgis  says,  "Religion 
is  fundamentally  concerned  with  the  other  world.  Ulti- 
mately, the  criterion  of  any  religion  lies  in  what  it  has  to 
tell  us  of  Death.  In  the  Resurrection  of  our  Lord  and  His 
Ascended  Glory  we  have  the  most  amazing  of  all  the  riches 
of  that  gift  to  man  which  we  call  the  Gospel.  Here  again, 
despite  the  clamor  of  a  faithless  criticism,  there  is  nothing 
really  to  shake  our  belief  in  its  historical  reality."  Mr. 
Carey,  chaplain  in  the  British  Navy,  says,  in  the  great  fight 
for  the  regeneration  of  England  three  things  are  necessary. 
First,  to  make  people  think.  "In  church,  at  the  street 
corner,  through  books,  we  must  reiterate  the  unchanging 
eternal  questions  :  'Whence  do  I  come ;  whither  am  I  going ; 
what  is  my  business  here  ?'  Personally  I  have  never  found 
an  audience,  in  church  or  at  some  crowded  street  corner, 
who  did  not  hush  into  attention  when  these  questions  were 
considered."  "Secondly,  our  task  is  to  remove  from  the 
minds  of  people  the  false  notions  of  religion  which  have 


THE  GREEN  BOOK  9 

taken  so  deep  a  root,  and  to  teach  the  true  religion  in  their 
stead."  "And  the  third  thing  we  need  is  a  great  increase 
in  the  volume  of  prayer — the  surrender  of  the  will  to  God, 
the  putting  ourselves  at  His  service,  the  asking  for  a  bless- 
ing on  mankind."  ^ 

We  could  not  have  a  better  outline  for  our  plan  of  cam- 
paign, for  the  success  of  our  campaign  will  largely  depend 
upon  the  clearness  and  the  definiteness  of  our  message  and 
our  purpose.  Stirring  words  and  high  ideals,  as  Bishop 
Gore  reminds  us,  are  not  enough.  "How  can  you  evangelize 
the  masses  unless  you  have  a  definite  doctrine  to  teach?" 
he  asks.  So  in  regard  to  Christian  Unity  "We  must  think 
before  we  can  start  to  act  or  to  combine."  ^ 

Our  troubles  in  the  Church  today  are  largely  due  to  the 
fact  that  members  of  the  Church  do  not  know  the  founda- 
tions of  the  Faith  as  taught  in  the  creeds  and  Church  cate- 
chism. We  must  teach  this  in  an  attractive  and  definite  way. 
The  general  complaint  of  the  Every  Member  Campaign  last 
Lent  was  that  it  was  too  vague.  The  success  of  the  Trac- 
tarian  or  Catholic  movement  in  the  Church  of  England, 
Bishop  Gore  reminds  us,  was  due  to  "the  definiteness  of  its 
principles.  The  popular  and  evangelistic  work  of  these 
English  Catholics  was  based  upon  and  constantly  referred 
itself  back  to  a  school  of  theologians  and  thinkers  who  lived 
in  the  region  of  principles,  and  knew  how  to  discriminate." 
Their  work  in  writing  and  circulating  readable  tracts  gave 
the  movement  its  name. 

One  of  the  objects  of  our  Nation-wide  campaign,  it  is  said, 
is  to  induce  people  to  go  to  church  regularly  on  Sunday 
morning.  Every  now  and  then  the  press,  secular  and 
religious,  starts  discussing  why  people  do  not  go  to  church. 
It  used  to  be  why  men  do  not  go  to  church,  but  the  question 
now  includes  women  and  children  also.  The  answer  is 
simple  enough :  people  do  not  go  to  church  because  they  do 

1  The  Kindgom  That  Must  Be  Built— W.  J.  Carey. 

2  Orders  and  Unity — C.  Gore. 


10  THE  GREEN  BOOK  > 

not  want  to.  Religion  has  been  put  before  them  as  subjective 
and  altruistic.  It  is,  therefore,  not  surprising  that  many  feel 
that  if  the  preaching  or  the  preacher  does  not  please  them, 
or  if  they  think  they  get  no  good  in  going  to  church,  there 
is  no  reason  for  going.  Those  who  are  conscientious  make 
social  service  their  religion.  The  first  duty  of  Christians, 
the  first  and  great  commandment  given  by  our  Lord,  is  not 
considered,  is  given  second  place,  or  is  thought  to  be  included 
in  "doing  good"  and  "making  the  world  a  better  place  to 
live  in,"  forgetting  none  of  us  have  long  to  live  here.  The 
Church  is  greatly  to  blame  for  this  state  of  things  and  this 
point  of  view. 

What  idea  of  worship  is  there,  and  what  is  there  to  attract, 
in  a  lengthy,  inharmonious  service,  consisting  of  the  whole 
(or  a  part)  of  Morning  Prayer,  a  piece  of  the  Litany  and  a 
piece  of  the  Communion  Service  tacked  together  with  some 
hymns,  often  ill-chosen  by  the  organist  or  the  music  com- 
mittee. Any  one  of  these  services  by  itself  is  beautiful  and 
fitting  and  not  too  long ;  but  the  Litany,  for  example,  at  the 
end  of  Morning  Prayer  is  not  beautiful,  and  is  very  gener- 
ally disliked,  especially  by  men.  "I  do  not  go  to  Church 
Sunday  morning  because  I  hate  the  Litany.  I  go  Sunday 
evening  because  I  love  Evening  Prayer."  How  often  one 
hears  men  especially  say  this.  Yet  during  the  war  the  Lit- 
any, the  whole  Litany,  said  alone  with  two  or  three  special 
prayers  at  the  end,  was  the  most  popular  intercession  serv- 
ice, and  many  spoke  of  having  always  disliked  the  Litany 
and  never  having  realized  how  beautiful  and  satisfying  it 
could  be  as  a  service  of  itself. 

Morning  Prayer,  the  Litany,  and  the  service  of  the  Holy 
Communion  are  three  separate  services,  and  we  are 
gradually  learning  to  treat  them  as  such.  That  strange  rite 
known  as  the  ante-Communion  Service,  tacked  on  to  Morn- 
ing Prayer,  is  passing  away.  It  was  like  giving  only  the  first 
act  of  a  two-act  play.     It  was  meaningless,  and  made  the 


THE  GREEN  BOOK  11 

service  too  long,  which  is  largely  the  reason  it  is  being 
given  up. 

Another  thing  that  is  mentioned  as  an  object  of  this 
Nation-wide  campaign,  is  to  make  the  Eucharist  the  chief 
service  on  Sunday.  How  are  we  going  about  it?  Canon 
Newbolt  says,  "There  have  been  many  schemes  pro- 
pounded, some  rather  hastily,  some  perhaps  not  effecting 
what  they  were  meant  to  accomplish.  I  never  could  quite 
understand,  for  my  part,  how  the  Holy  Communion  would 
become  the  great  service  of  Sunday  simply  by  bringing  the 
Eucharist  to  the  people ;  I  think  we  want  to  bring  the  people 
to  the  Eucharist.  I  do  not  think  we  shall  make  the  Holy 
Communion  the  chief  service  on  Sunday  merely  by  planting 
it  down,  as  it  were,  before  the  congregation  assembled  at  a 
particular  moment,  at  a  particular  hour  of  the  day,  as  some- 
thing which  they  must  join  in  whether  they  like  it  or  not. 
I  think  the  Holy  Eucharist  is  to  be  made  the  great  service 
of  Sunday  by  making  people  feel  that  it  is  the  principal 
service  of  the  day,  so  they  are  drawn  to  it  and  attracted 
to  it ;  and  not  by  placing  it  before  them  without  due  prepara- 
tion on  their  part,  and  with  no  proper  recognition  of  the 
tremendous  realities  which  are  therein  put  before  them."  ^ 

There  is  no  service  so  teaching  and  so  appealing,  even  to 
those  who  understand  it  but  little,  as  a  choral  Eucharist 
without  the  break  and  commotion  in  the  middle  caused 
by  many  communicants.  "I  have  never  seen  real  wor- 
ship before.  It  grips  you."  These  things  have  been 
said  to  the  writer,  again  and  again,  by  visitors  after  the 
choral  Eucharist  at  our  own  St.  Mark's.  One  of  our  Army 
chaplains  who  was  overseas  has  said  that  fasting  Communion 
and  non-communicating  attendance  at  the  Eucharist  are  the 
two  practices  we  must  learn  if  we  would  learn  Catholic  devo- 
tion and  worship.  There  certainly  can  be  no  objection  to 
a  celebration  without  communicants  where  most  of  those 

*  The  Holy  Kucharist.— W.   C.   E.  Newbolt. 


12  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

present  are  regular  communicants,  and  many  have  made 
their  Communions  that  morning  or  during  the  previous 
vireek.  As  Canon  Newbolt  reminds  us,  this  practice  is  uni- 
versal East  and  West,  except  among  a  portion  of  our 
own  people.  The  Church  is  not  the  Church  of  the  first 
century  but  the  growing  Body  of  Christ.  We  cannot  say 
this  too  often,  remembering  always  healthy  growth  is  slow, 
that  it  is  evolution  not  revolution,  and  that  the  fads  and 
fancies  of  a  few,  Latin  or  Protestant,  are  excrescences,  not 
the  growth  of  the  Body,  and  are  to  be  deplored. 

If  we  want  to  make  the  Eucharist  the  people's  great  act 
of  worship  on  Sunday,  the  service  must  not  be  too  long. 
People  will  not  go  to  a  lengthy  service.  Ordinarily  an  hour 
and  a  half  is  long  enough,  and  with  simple  music,  three 
hymns  and  a  twenty-five-minute  sermon,  this  is  possible.  On 
the  great  festivals,  when  the  music,  as  befits  the  day,  is  more 
elaborate,  the  sermon  should  be  shorter.  The  writer  has 
known  a  parish,  with  a  great  preacher,  where  the  sermon  was 
never  more  than  five  minutes  on  great  festivals.  The  service, 
the  St.  Cecilia  Mass  perhaps,  a  procession,  no  anthem,  three 
hymns,  and  two  or  three  communicants  who  made  their  Com- 
munions during  the  singing  of  the  Agnus  Dei,  with  a  five- 
minute  sermon,  occupied  an  hour  and  forty-five  or  fifty 
minutes — not  too  long  for  a  special  occasion  but  too  long  for 
the  regular  Sunday  morning  service. 

There  are  but  few  sermons  delivered  that  would  not  be 
improved  by  cutting.  How  often  men  come  from  church 
saying,  "If  the  Rector  had  left  out  that  long,  tiresome  intro- 
duction, and  had  preached  only  what  he  said  in  the  last  ten 
minutes,  the  sermon  would  have  been  very  good."  Or — "If 
the  Rector  had  stopped  in  the  mxiddle  of  his  sermon  when 
he  made  his  point,  one  would  have  gone  away  stimulated 
and  helped,  but  he  went  on,  people  got  tired  and  bored,  and 
now   only   remember   the   sermon  was  too  long."     At  the 


THE  GREEN  BOOK  13 

Garrick  Theatre,  in  Philadelphia,  during  Lent  services  are 
held  for  business  men  and  women ;  the  lower  floor  being 
reserved  entirely  for  men.  These  services  are  run  by  laymen, 
and  the  time  limit  strictly  observed.  The  speaker  is  given 
twenty  minutes,  and  is  always  at  his  best,  for  he  must  con- 
dense to  deliver  his  message  and  make  his  point  with  no 
unnecessary  words  in  that  time.  The  theatre  is  filled  day 
after  day,  and  men  listen  and  remember. 

Our  Lord  came  to  seek  as  well  as  to  save  that  which  was 
lost,  to  be  found  of  them  who  sought  Him  not,  and  the 
Church  must  follow  His  example.  Fr.  Figgis  bids  Chris- 
tians make  their  religion  attractive,  and  urges  the  clergy 
to  make  their  sermons  interesting  and  stimulating.  To  avoid 
being  dull  does  not  necessitate  being  irreverent,  slangy  and 
sensational,  methods  so  disliked  by  the  mass  of  men  as  our 
Army  chaplains  discovered,  the  cheap  camouflage  of  shallow 
shams  to  hide  lack  of  learning  and  true  religion.  It  does 
necessitate  reading,  study,  prayer,  and  a  heart  aflame  with 
the  love  of  God. 

If  our  Church  is  to  be  the  power  we  hope  she  will  be,  and 
know  she  can  be,  she  must  be  Catholic,  she  must  be  a  teach- 
ing Church  and  must  begin  with  the  children.  It  is  a  hopeful 
sign  that  so  many  parishes  have  children's  Eucharists  once 
a  month  in  the  Sunday  School,  and  are  training  children  in 
worship.  More  memorizing,  too,  of  passages  in  the  Bible 
as  well  as  the  Catechism  is  what  we  need.  Hymns  and 
Collects  are  memorized  by  constant  use.  There  is  nothing 
we  can  give  a  child  that  can  in  anywise  compare  in  value  to 
good  religious  teaching  and  training,  and  the  foundations 
are  laid,  educators  tell  us,  before  a  child  is  twelve.  Such 
may  give  up  the  practice  of  religion  but  it  holds  them  and 
guides  them  more  than  they  realize,  and  when  they  need 
help  they  know  where  to  find  it.  Greek,  Latin  and  mathe- 
matics are  valuable,  but  knowledge  "will  vanish  away"  with 
other  earthly  things ;  character  is  the  one  thing  we  will 
2 


14  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

take  with  us  when  we  leave  this  world.  In  the  choice  of 
schools,  when  children  are  sent  away  from  home,  the  Church 
teaching  and  life  should  be  regarded  as  of  the  first  impor- 
tance. The  atmosphere,  the  teaching,  above  all  the  Sacra- 
mental teaching  and  life,  of  a  good  Church  school  make 
an  indelible  mark  on  character.  The  war  has  shown  us 
that  men's  early  religious  training,  forgotten  and  little 
valued,  is  what  they  turned  to  in  their  hour  of  need,  and 
it  also  has  shown  us  the  tragedy  of  those  who  had  not  had 
such  training. 

It  is  "the  Faith  once  delivered"  as  expressed  in  the  Bible, 
Prayer  Book  and  Church  Catechism  we  must  teach ;  nothing 
else  will  do.  Humanitarianism,  social  service,  faith  healing 
and  the  like  cannot  have  first  place  in  a  religion  that  is 
"other  worldly"  and  supernatural.  "Even  among  our  best 
priests,"  says  Fr.  Figgis,  "there  is  the  danger  lest  reHgion 
sink  down  mainly  into  a  thing  of  this  world,  making  men 
better  here,  and  using  the  thought  of  the  other  only  as  a 
means  to  that  end.  Natural  indeed  is  the  mistake.  But  it 
is  a  mistake.  If  it  be  true  that  man  is  a  being  created  to  be 
immortal  then  those  must  be  right  who  treat  this  life  as  an 
episode,  a  brief  journey  to  something  better,  and  bid  us  'pass 
the  time  of  our  sojourning  here  in  fear.' "  Again — "The 
death-knell  of  our  present  regime  sounds  for  all  who  have 
ears  to  hear,  not  in  its  iniquity,  but  in  its  transcendent  Philis- 
tine ugliness,  its  saturnalia  of  the  commonplace.  Men  want 
to  be  taken  away  from  this.  It  is  our  office  as  preachers  to 
do  so — not  by  programmes  of  politics  or  economics  (which, 
good  or  bad,  are  for  statesmen),  but  by  showing  them  how, 
at  their  doors,  in  their  hearts  and  mouths,  there  is  a  world 
of  absorbing  loveliness,  that  can  conquer  all  the  outward 
hideousness,  even  of  this  world."*  This  is  what  the  Christian 
religion  and  the  Catholic  Church  did  for  men  living  in  the 
Roman  Empire  in  the  first  century  in  days  not  unlike  our 

♦  Antichrist  and  Other  Sermons, — J.  N.   Figgis,   C.   R. 


THE  GREEN  BOOK  15 

own,  and  it  can  do  this  for  us.  It  will  be  remembered  the 
Order  of  the  Resurrection  has  been  a  leader  in  social  work 
in  England.*^ 

Fr.  Figgis  gives  us  another  warning  we  will  do  well  to 
remember  in  this  campaign  when  we  hear  the  cry,  "The 
conversion  of  the  world  to  Christ  in  this  generation !"  "In 
all  ages,"  he  says,  "many,  perhaps  the  majority,  will  reject 
Christianity.  A  philosopher  said  all  the  fundamental  philo- 
sophical positions  are  tenable  in  any  age,  though  not  all  are 
equally  prevalent.  If  they  are  free,  some  men  will  take 
one,  some  another.  We  cannot  expect  to  do  away  with  un- 
belief in  this  world.  Great  harm  is  done  by  trying  to  state 
Christianity  in  such  a  way  as  to  embrace  every  one  in  a  world 
like  this.  All  we  can  hope  for  is  a  religion  which  makes  a 
universal  appeal."  ® 

We  are  living  in  times  of  unrest  and  unsettlement,  and 
history  shows  it  is  not  wise  to  make  unnecessary  changes 
or  to  "swap  horses"  at  such  periods.  Neurotic  times  with 
individuals  or  societies  are  not  times  of  sound  judgment. 
People,  too,  are  seeking  something  familiar  and  unchanging 
to  cling  to,  and  for  this  reason  it  seems  unwise,  and  perhaps 
unkind,  to  make  radical  changes  now  in  the  Canons  or  in 
the  Prayer  Book. 

In  this  new  age  and  new  land  it  is  the  double  appeal 
of  the  Church  that  is  attractive.  She  has  the  stability  and 
the  charm  of  the  old,  and  the  freshness  of  the  new.  The 
romance  of  the  old  is  felt  very  strongly  among  us,  or  such 
societies  as  the  Sons  and  the  Daughters  of  the  Revolution 
would  not  exist,  and  this  feeling  has  been  deepened,  we  are 
told,  in  our  men  overseas.    All  this  is  going  to  have  a  great 

r  "^  "^^^.  "°*  SO  into  the  services  rendered  by  the  Oxford  Movement  to  social 
reform.  They  are  not  the  least  salient  of  its  results.  Then,  as  always,  it  has 
been  the  mystic,  the  man  with  his  eyes  on  the  other  world,  whose  hands  are  most 
forward  to  do  good  in  this.  If  anyone  needs  proof  of  this,  let  him  compare 
recent  addresses  of  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  with  the  utterances  of  certain  digni- 
taries confessedly  'liberal'  on  all  subjects  connected  with  the  poor  " — T  N 
Figgis,  C.  R.  f  J-       . 

•  Hopes  for  English  Religion, — J.  N.  Figgis,  C.  R. 


16  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

effect  in  our  development,  and  will  attract  men  to  the  Church, 
if  we  use  it  aright.  We  will  not  use  it  aright  if  we  live  in 
the  past. 

It  is  the  romance  of  the  old  with  newness  of  life  that  will 
attract.  The  keenness,  the  freshness,  the  vigor,  the  poise  of 
the  Christian  character,  built  on  a  life  of  penitence,  daily 
renewed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  through  Bible  reading  and 
prayer,  nourished  and  healed  by  the  life  of  God  in  the  Sacra- 
ments, finding  in  each  new  day  new  wonders  of  God's  love, 
new  opportunities  for  service  and  cross-bearing,  and  walking 
"as  seeing  Him  Who  is  invisible," — that  is  what  will  win 
men  and  women  to  Christ. 

"New  every  morning  is  the  love 
Our  wakening  and  uprising  prove; 
Through  sleep  and  darkness  safely  brought, 
Restored  to  life,  and  power,  and  thought. 

"New  mercies,  each  returning  day, 
Hover  around  us  while  we  pray ; 
New  perils  past,  new  sins  forgiven, 
New  thoughts  of  God,  new  hopes  of  heaven. 

"If  on  our  daily  course  our  mind 
Be  set  to  hallow  all  we  find, 
New  treasures  still,  of  countless  price, 
God  will  provide  for  sacrifice. 

"Old  friends,  old  scenes,  will  lovelier  be, 
As  more  of  heaven  in  each  we  see; 
Some  softening  gleam  of  love  and  prayer 
Shall  dawn  on  every  cross  and  care. 

"The  trivial  round,  the  common  task, 
Will  furnish  all  we  need  to  ask ; 
Room  to  deny  ourselves,  a  road 
To  bring  us  daily  nearer  God. 

"Only,  O  Lord,  in  Thy  dear  love, 
Fit  us  for  perfect  rest  above; 
And  help  us,  this  and  every  day. 
To  live  more  nearly  as  we  pray," 


MEMBERSHIP 

What  is  your  name? 

*Name  

Who  gave  you  this  name  ? 

My  sponsors  in  Baptism; 

wherein  I  was  made  a  member  of  Christ, 

the  child  of  God, 

and  an  inheritor  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 


Name  mny  be  written    iiere. 


JOINING  THE  CHURCH 

"Seeing  now,  dearly  beloved  brethren,  that  this  Child  is 
regenerate,  and  grafted  into  the  body  of  Christ's  Church,  let  us 
give  thanks  unto  Almighty  God  for  these  benefits ;  and  with  one 
accord  make  our  prayers  unto  Him,  that  this  Child  may  lead  the 
rest  of  his  life  according  to  this  beginning." — Baptismal  Service, 
Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

Every  organized  society  has  a  rule,  and  many  have  also 
rites  and  ceremonies,  by  which  persons  may  become  members 
of  the  society.  To  join  the  Red  Cross,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the 
Knights  of  Columbus,  the  Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew,  the 
Masonic  Orders,  the  Presbyterian  or  Methodist  Church,  any 
organization  secular  or  religious,  one  must  conform  to  the 
rule  made  by  the  society  as  a  condition  of  membership. 

To  join  the  Christian  Society,  the  Holy  Catholic  Church, 
one  must  be  baptized  with  water  "in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  This  is  the  con- 
dition for  membership  made  by  the  founder  of  the  Church, 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  the  early  days  of  His  ministry. 
He  announced  that  "Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of 
the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  God";^ 
and  before  He  ascended  into  heaven  He  commanded  His 
Church  to  make  disciples^  of  all  nations,  by  baptizing  them 
"into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  ^  but  He  bade  His  Apostles  tarry  in  Jerusalem 
until  they  were  "endued  with  power  from  on  high." 

*  St.  John  3:3-13.  "A  common-sense  view  of  this  passage,  taken  in  connection 
with  the  subsequent  command  to  baptize,  is  that  in  these  words  He  was  referring 
to  Christian  Baptism.  That  tliis  is  the  true  explanation  of  them  may  be  held 
to  be  fully  proved  by  the  fact  that  for  fifteen  centuries  they  were  uniformly 
interpreted  in  this  sense  by  Christian  teachers,  and  that  no  other  interpretation 
of  them  earlier  than  the  writings  of  Calvin  has  been  found."  The  word  baptize 
means  to  wet  or  moisten.     Holy  Baptism — Darwell  Stone. 

^  The    Greek    word    is    inaccurately    translated    teach    in    our    English    Bible. 
The  correct  reading  is  make  disciples. 
»  St.  Matt.  28:19. 

17 


18  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

On  the  Day  of  Pentecost  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon 
these  men,  chosen,  trained  and  commissioned  by  the  Christ 
Himself,  baptizing  them,  forming  the  separate  units  into 
one  body,  and  giving  them  power  to  carry  out  the  Lord's 
commands.  Through  the  agency  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost, 
The  Lifegiver,  God  the  Son  was  made  man  and  born  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  and  by  the  same  agency  His  Mystical  Body, 
the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  was  born  of  the  Jewish  Church 
on  the  Day  of  Pentecost. 

Our  Lord  lived  and  died  a  member  of  the  Jewish  Church. 
It  is  most  important  to  remember  this.  When  eight  days 
old  He  was  made  a  member  of  this  Church  by  the  rite  of 
circumcision  ordained  by  God :  as  He  grew  to  manhood  He 
kept  the  law,  and  went  regularly  up  to  Jerusalem  to  keep 
the  Feasts ;  He  was  found  constantly  in  the  Synagogues  and 
the  Temple,  and  as  He  was  entering  upon  His  ministry  He 
was  baptized  by  St.  John  the  Baptist  with  "the  baptism  of 
repentance,"  that  in  His  "contact  with  sinful  men  and  in  the 
path  of  humiliation  He  might  'fulfil  all  righteousness.'  His 
baptism  may  also  be  regarded  as  a  dedication  of  His  ministry 
to  the  service  of  His  Father,  and  as  pointing  on  to  the 
sanctification  of  water  which  would  be  possible  after  His 
death  and  resurrection  and  was  to  be  found  in  the  Sacrament 
of  Christian  Baptism.  After  the  reception  of  the  'baptism 
of  repentance',  the  Divine  Person  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost 
manifested  and  bestowed  anew  His  Presence  in  the  Sacred 
Manhood  of  the  Son,  and  the  voice  of  the  Father  was  heard 
from  Heaven  declaring  'This  is  My  beloved  Son,  in  whom 
I  am  well  pleased.'  "  * 

This  "baptism  of  repentance,"  like  the  Jewish  sacrifices, 
was  a  sign.  It  taught  the  need  of  cleansing,  and  was  an 
acknowledgment  of  this  by  those  receiving  it.  To  the 
Jews,  says  Canon  Mason,  "the  inner  import  of  the  pre- 
scribed action  was  a  lesson  which  might  be  learned,  not  a 

*  Holy  Baptism. — Darwell  Stone. 


JOINING  THE  CHURCH  .       19 

gift  which  might  be  apprehended.  *  *  *  Now,  since 
the  glorification  of  Christ,  and  the  outpouring  of  His  Spirit, 
we  are  presented  with  signs  which  not  only  speak  of 
spiritual  mysteries,  but  convey  the  things  which  they  speak 
of."  ^  "Effectual  signs"  the  Church  calls  the  Sacraments, 
because  they  effect  w^iat  they  symbolize.. 

Reading  the  history  of  the  early  Church  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  and  in  the  Christian  writings  of  the  first  centuries, 
one  cannot  fail  to  see  that  baptism  was  the  means  by  which 
men  and  women  were  made  Christians.  On  the  Day  of 
Pentecost  when  the  great  multitude,  many  of  whom  no  doubt 
had  been  baptized  by  St.  John  the  Baptist,  and  probably  most 
of  whom  had  seen  the  miracles  that  Jesus  did,  and  heard 
His  teaching,  "pierced  to  the  heart"  by  the  preaching  of 
St.  Peter,  cried  out  "Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ?" 
the  answer  was,  "Repent,  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  remission  of  sins, 
and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Then 
they  most  gladly  received  His  w^ord  and  were  baptized,  "and 
the  same  day  there  were  added  unto  them  about  three 
thousand  souls.  And  they  continued  stedfastly  in  the 
apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of  bread, 
and  in  the  prayers."  ^  As  the  result  of  the  preaching  of 
St.  Philip  the  Deacon  in  Samaria,  many  men  and  women 
were  converted  and  then  baptized.'^ 

When  Saul  of  Tarsus,  miraculously  converted  by  a  heavenly 
vision,  asked,  in  faith  and  humility,  "Lord,  what  wilt  thou 
have  me  to  do  ?"  he  was  directed  to  go  to  Damascus  where 
he  would  be  told  what  to  do.  After  three  days  without  sight 
and  food,  "a  certain  disciple  at  Damascus  named  Ananias," 
who  seems  to  have  been  a  devout  layman,  was  directed  by 
the  Lord  in  a  vision  to  go  to  him.  When  he  had  talked  with 
him,  and  restored  his  sight,  he  said,  "And  now  why  tarriest 

•The  Faith  of  the  Gospel. — A.  J.  Mason.  ''Acts  8:1-13. 

•Acts  2:37-42. 


20  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

thou?  arise,  and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away  thy  sins."* 
Then  he  "arose,  and  was  baptized."  ®  And  when  Saul 
the  persecutor  became  Paul  the  Apostle,  he  carried 
on  the  same  teaching  and  practice.  At  Phihppi,  Lydia 
of  Thyatira,  a  seller  of  purple,  gave  heed  to  his  words,  and 
she  and  her  whole  household  were  baptized. ^^  At  the 
same  place,  the  gaoler  after  the  earthquake  "came 
trembling,  and  fell  down  before  Paul  and  Silas,  and 
said.  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  And  they  said. 
Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved, 
and  thy  house.  And  they  spake  unto  him  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  and  to  all  that  were  in  his  house,"  with  the  result  that 
straightway  "he  and  all  his"  were  baptized.^ ^  At  Ephesus 
St.  Paul  found  certain  disciples  who  believed  but  had 
only  received  the  baptism  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  and  to 
these  he  showed  that  this  was  only  a  sign  and  preparation 
for  the  baptism  of  Plim  who  should  come  after ;  and  "when 
City  heard  this,  they  were  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus."  ^^  So  it  was  always  and  everywhere.  Even  St. 
Paul,  miraculously  converted  by  the  Lord  Himself,  is  not 
regenerate  and  cleansed  from  his  sins  until  he  is  baptized 
several  days  after  his  conversion.  Repentance,  faith  and 
conversion  were  not  enough. 

Regeneration  and  conversion  are  two  different  things. 
The  word  regenerate  means  to  be  born  again,  and  the  word 
convert  means  to  turn  around.  Regeneration  is  the  bestowal 
of  life,  and  is  the  act  of  God.  Conversion  is  the  conscious 
turning  of  the  soul  from  self  and  sin  to  God,  and  is  the  act 
of  man.  It  is  an  act  of  the  will  brought  about  by  repentance 
and  faith.  The  Church  does  not  call  the  Prodigal  to  leave 
his  sins  and  become  a  son  of  God.  She  reminds  him  that 
he  is  a  son  of  God,  and  bids  him  return  to  his  father  and  his 
home. 

«  Acts  22:16.  "Acts  16:14,15.  "Acts  19:2-6. 

*  Acts  9:18.  "Acts  16:25  34. 


JOINING  THE  CHURCH  21 

"Christian  Baptism,  then,"  says  Dr.  Stone,  "according  to 
the  teaching  of  Holy  Scripture,  by  making  the  baptized 
person  a  member  of  Christ  and  a  child  of  God  and  imparting 
to  him  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  causes  him  to  partake  of 
the  merits  of  Christ's  life  and  death  and  the  power  of  His 
resurrection.  It  thereby  enables  him  to  live  a  Christian  life 
and  attain  to  eternal  glory.  Yet  he  may  subsequently  depart 
from  grace  and  fall  into  sin  by  the  act  of  his  will  choosing 
evil,  and,  if  evil  be  finally  chosen,  he  may  be  involved  in 
eternal  sin,  and  consequently  in  eternal  loss.  Baptism  con- 
fers a  position  of  high  privilege  and  great  responsibility. 
The  free-will  of  the  baptized  person  has  to  determine  to 
what  use  this  position  is  to  be  put." 

"I  love  the  Church— the  Holy  Church, 

That  o'er  our  Hfe  presides, 
The  Birth,  the  Bridal,  and  the  Grave, 

And  many  an  hour  besides ! 
Be  mine,  through  life,  to  live  in  her, 

And  when  the  Lord  shall  call, 
To  die  in  her — the  spouse  of  Christ, 

The  Mother  of  us  all." 

—A.  Cleveland  Coxe 


THE  NEW  BIRTH 

Question.    What  is  the  outward  visible  sign  or  form  in  Baptism? 

Answer.  Water;  wherein  the  person  is  baptized,  In  the  Name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Question.    What  is  the  inward  and  spiritual  grace? 

Answer.  A  death  unto  sin,  and  a  new  birth  unto  righteousness : 
for  being  by  nature  born  in  sin,  and  the  children  of  wrath,  we  are 
hereby  made  the  children  of  grace. 

— The  Catechism,  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

When  Nicodemus  came  to  Jesus  by  night  to  talk  with 
Him  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  which  He  and  His  forerunner, 
St.  John  the  Baptist,  proclaimed  to  be  at  hand,  and  for 
which  every  Jew  had  been  looking  for  centuries,  he  was 
startled  by  the  Master  saying  "Except  a  man  be  born  again, 
he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God."  Strange  words  these 
seemed  to  a  Jew  and  a  Pharisee  proud  of  his  birth.  Were 
not  the  promises  of  the  kingdom  to  Abraham  ?  What  higher 
birth  could  there  be  than  the  seed  of  Abraham?  "Marvel 
not  that  I  said  unto  thee.  Ye  must  be  born  again,"  the 
Master  continued.  "That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh ; 
and  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit."  Like  begets 
like;  a  dog  produces  a  dog,  and  a  bird  a  bird,  by  this  law 
called  in  science  conformity  to  type;  and  flesh  can  only 
produce  flesh.  "Art  thou  a  master  of  Israel,  and  knowest 
not  these  things?"  "If  I  have  told  you  earthly  things"  (like 
this),  "and  ye  believe  not,  how  shall  ye  believe  if  I  tell  you 
of  heavenly  things" — the  mystery  of  the  Ascension  and  the 
Passion.*  "Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit, 
he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God,"  and  until  he  has 

»  St.  John  3:13,  14. 

23 


THE  NEW  BIRTH  23 

entered  the  kingdom  of  God  through  this  new  birth,  he  can- 
not see  it,  for  spiritual  things  are  spiritually  discerned. 

In  a  book  much  talked  about  thirty  years  ago,  "Natural 
Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,"  the  author,  the  late  Professor 
Henry  Drummond,  speaking  as  a  scientist  of  the  theories 
of  spontaneous  generation  and  biogenesis,  says,  "Huxley 
categorically  announces  that  the  doctrine  of  Biogenesis,  or 
life  from  life,  is  'victorious  along  the  w^hole  line  at  the 
present  day.'  *  *  *  Translating  from  the  language  of 
Science  into  that  of  Religion,  the  theory  of  Spontaneous 
Generation  is  simply  that  a  man  may  become  gradually 
better  and  better  until  in  course  of  the  process  he  reaches 
that  quality  of  religious  nature  known  as  Spiritual  Life. 
*  *  *  Let  us  first  place  vividly  in  our  imagination  the 
picture  of  the  two  great  Kingdoms  of  Nature,  the  inorganic 
and  organic,  as  these  now  stand  in  the  light  of  the  Law  of 
Biogenesis.  What  essentially  is  involved  in  saying  that  there 
is  no  Spontaneous  Generation  of  Life?  It  is  meant  that  the 
passage  from  the  mineral  world  to  the  plant  or  animal  world 
is  hermetically  sealed  on  the  mineral  side.  This  inorganic 
world  is  staked  off  from  the  living  world  by  barriers  which 
have  never  yet  been  crossed  from  within.  No  change  of 
substance,  no  modification  of  environment,  no  chemistry, 
no  electricity,  nor  any  form  of  energy,  nor  any  evolution  can 
endow  any  single  atom  of  the  mineral  world  with  the  attribute 
of  Life.  Only  by  the  bending  down  into  this  dead  world  of 
some  living  form  can  these  dead  atoms  be  gifted  with  the 
properties  of  vitality,  without  this  preliminary  contact  with 
Life  they  remain  fixed  in  the  inorganic  sphere  forever.  It 
is  a  very  mysterious  Law  which  guards  in  this  way  the 
portals  of  the  living  world.  *  *  *  'The  passage  from 
the  Natural  World  to  the  Spiritual  World  is  hermetically 
sealed  on  the  natural  side.  The  door  from  the  inorganic  to 
the  organic  is  shut,  no  mineral  can  open  it ;  so  the  door  from 
the  natural  to  the  spiritual  is  shut,  and  no  man  can  open  it. 


24  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

This  world  of  natural  men  is  staked  off  from  the  Spiritual 
World  by  barriers  which  have  never  yet  been  crossed  from 
within.  No  organic  change,  no  modification  of  environment, 
no  mental  energy,  no  moral  effort,  no  evolution  of  character, 
no  progress  of  civilization  can  endow  any  single  soul  with 
the  attribute  of  Spiritual  Life.  The  Spiritual  World  is 
guarded  from  the  world  next  in  order  beneath  it  by  a  law 
of  Biogenesis — except  a  man  he  horn  again  .  .  .  except 
a  man  he  horn  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  It  is  not  said,  in  this  enunciation  of 
the  law,  that  if  the  condition  be  not  fulfilled  the  natural  man 
zvill  not  enter  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The  word  is  cannot. 
For  the  exclusion  of  the  spiritually  inorganic  from  the  King- 
dom of  the  spiritually  organic  is  not  arbitrary.  Nor  is  the 
natural  man  refused  admission  on  unexplained  grounds. 
His  admission  is  a  scientific  impossibility.  Except  a  mineral 
be  born  'from  above' — from  the  Kingdom  just  ahove  it — it 
cannot  enter  the  Kingdom  just  above  it.  And  except  a  man 
be  born  *from  above,'  by  the  same  law,  he  cannot  enter  the 
Kingdom  just  above  him.  There  being  no  passage  from  one 
Kingdom  to  another,  whether  from  inorganic  to  organic,  or 
from  organic  to  spiritual,  the  intervention  of  Life  is  a  scien- 
tific necessity  if  a  stone  or  plant  or  an  animal  or  a  man  is 
to  pass  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  sphere.  *  *  *  j^ 
either  case,  the  first  step  in  peopling  these  worlds  with  the 
appropriate  living  forms  is  virtually  miracle.  Nor  in  one 
case  is  there  less  of  mystery  in  the  act  than  in  the  other. 
The  second  birth  is  scarcely  less  perplexing  to  the  theologian 
than  the  first  to  the  embryologist." 

"From  the  analogies  of  Biology  we  should  expect  three 
things :  First,  that  the  New  Life  should  dawn  suddenly ; 
Second,  that  it  should  come  'without  observation';  Third, 
that  it  should  develop  gradually.  On  two  of  these  points 
there  can  be  little  controversy.  The  gradualness  of  growth 
is  a  characteristic  which  strikes  the  simplest  observer.    Long 


THE  NEW  BIRTH  25 

before  the  word  Evolution  was  coined  Christ  applied  it  in 
this  very  connection.  *First  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  then 
the  full  corn  in  the  ear.' " 

"Again;  in  addition  to  being  slow,  the  phenomena  of 
growth  are  secret.  Life  is  invisible.  When  the  New  Life 
manifests  itself  it  is  a  surprise.  Thou  canst  not  tell  whence 
it  cometh  or  zvhither  it  goeth.  When  the  plant  lives  whence 
has  the  Life  come?  When  it  dies  whither  has  it  gone? 
Thou  canst  not  tell  .  .  .  so  is  every  one  that  is  horn 
of  the  Spirit.  For  the  kingdom  of  God  cometh  without 
observation" 

"Yet  once  more, — and  this  is  a  point  of  strange  and  frivo- 
lous dispute, — this  Life  comes  suddenly.  This  is  the  only 
way  in  which  Life  can  come.  Life  cannot  come  gradually — 
health  can,  structure  can,  but  not  Life.  *  *  *  But  the 
real  moment  and  the  conscious  moment  are  two  different 
things.  Science  pronounces  nothing  as  to  the  conscious 
moment.  If  it  did  it  would  probably  say  that  that  was 
seldom  the  real  moment — just  as  in  the  natural  Life  the 
conscious  moment  is  not  the  real  moment.  The  moment  of 
birth  in  the  natural  world  is  not  a  conscious  moment — we 
do  not  know  we  are  born  till  long  afterward.  *  *  * 
The  line  between  the  living  and  the  dead  is  a  sharp  line. 
When  the  dead  atoms  of  Carbon,  Hydrogen,  Oxygen, 
Nitrogen,  are  seized  upon  by  Life,  the  organism  at  first 
is  very  lowly.  It  possesses  few  functions.  It  has  little 
beauty.  Growth  is  the  work  of  time.  But  Life  is  not.  That 
comes  in  a  moment.  At  one  moment  it  was  dead ;  the  next 
it  Hved." 

"What  now,  let  us  ask  specifically,  distinguishes  a  Chris- 
tian man  from  a  non-Christian  man?  *  *  *  'pl^g  ^^jg, 
tinction  between  them  is  the  same  as  that  between  the 
Organic  and  the  Inorganic,  the  living  and  the  dead.  What 
is  the  difference  between  a  crystal  and  an  organism,  a  stone 
and  a  plant  ?    They  have  much  in  common.    Both  are  made 


26  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

of  the  same  atoms.  Both  display  the  same  properties  of 
matter.  Both  are  subject  to  the  Physical  Laws.  Both  may 
be  very  beautiful.  But  besides  possessing  all  that  the  crystal 
has,  the  plant  possesses  something  more — a  mysterious 
something  called  Life.  This  Life  is  not  something  which 
existed  in  the  crystal  only  in  a  less  developed  form.  There 
is  nothing  at  all  like  it  in  the  crystal.  *  *  *  f\iQ  natural 
man  belongs  essentially  to  this  order  of  things.  He  is  en- 
dowed simply  with  a  high  quality  of  the  natural  animal  Life. 
But  it  is  Life  of  so  poor  a  quality  that  it  is  not  Life  at  all. 
He  that  hath  not  the  Son  hath  not  Life;  but  he  that  hath 
the  Son  hath  Life — a  new  and  distinct  and  supernatural 
endowment.  He  is  not  of  this  world.  He  is  of  the  timeless 
state,  of  Eternity.  It  doth  not  yet  appear  zvhat  he  shall  be. 
*  *  *  It  is  an  old-fashioned  theology  which  divides  the 
world  in  this  way — which  speaks  of  men  as  Living  and 
Dead,  Lost  and  Saved — a  stern  theology  all  but  fallen  into 
disuse.  This  difference  between  the  Living  and  the  Dead 
in  souls  is  so  unproved  by  casual  observation,  so  impalpable 
in  itself,  so  startling  as  a  doctrine,  that  schools  of  culture 
have  ridiculed  or  denied  the  grim  distinction.  Nevertheless 
the  grim  distinction  must  be  retained.  It  is  a  scientific  dis- 
tinction.   'He  that  hath  not  the  Son  hath  not  Life.' " 

"Now  it  is  this  great  Law  which  finally  distinguishes 
Christianity  from  all  other  religions.  It  places  the  religion 
of  Christ  upon  a  footing  altogether  unique.  There  is  no 
analogy  between  the  Christian  religion  and,  say,  Buddhism 
or  the  Mohammedan  religion.  There  is  no  true  sense  in 
which  a  man  can  say,  He  that  hath  Buddha  hath  Life. 
Buddha  has  nothing  to  do  with  Life.  He  may  have  some- 
thing to  do  with  morahty.  He  may  stimulate,  impress,  teach, 
guide,  but  there  is  no  distinct  new  thing  added  to  the  souls 
of  those  who  profess  Buddhism.  These  religions  may  be 
developments  of  the  natural,  mental,  or  moral  man.  But 
Christianity  professes  to  be  more.    It  is  the  mental  or  moral 


THE  NEW  BIRTH  27 

man  plus  something  else  or  some  One  else.  It  is  the  infusion 
into  the  Spiritual  man  of  a  New  Life,  of  a  quality  unlike 
anything  else  in  Nature.  This  constitutes  the  separate  King- 
dom of  Christ,  and  gives  to  Christianity  alone  of  all  the 
religions  of  mankind  the  strange  mark  of  Divinity."  - 

Dr.  Stone,  after  reviewing  the  teaching  of  Holy  Scripture 
and  the  Catholic  Church  on  baptism,  giving  numerous  quo- 
tations from  the  writings  of  the  Fathers  East  and  West,  on 
the  subject  says,  "The  significance  of  the  teaching  of  which 
representative  illustrations  have  been  given  is  of  the  most 
momentous  kind.  It  would  call  for  very  great  consideration 
even  apart  from  a  belief  that  the  Church  of  God  is,  in  the 
language  of  S.  Paul,  the  'pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth,'  and 
that  the  promise  of  our  Lord  'The  gates  of  Hades  shall  not 
prevail  against  it'  implies  the  Providential  preservation  of 
the  Universal  Church  from  such  errors  on  matters  of  vital 
doctrine  as  would  amount  to  a  failure  to  hold  fast  that 
which  has  been  committed  to  her  charge.  It  is  teaching  not 
characteristic  merely  of  some  particular  time,  but  found 
throughout  nearly  nineteen  centuries.  It  is  not  confined  to 
any  particular  place,  but  declared  in  the  utterances  of  Chris- 
tians of  all  parts  of  the  East  and  of  the  West.  It  is  not  due 
to  the  influence  of  any  special  type  of  mind,  for  it  is  held  by 
writers  of  most  different  lines  of  thought.  It  is  as  much  part 
of  the  belief  of  mediaeval  schoolmen  in  the  West  as  it  is  of 
Eastern  Fathers  in  the  early  days  of  the  Faith.  It  was  no 
less  jealously  guarded  by  the  Church  in  England  in  the 
sixteenth  century  than  by  the  primitive  or  mediaeval  Church. 
It  is  found  alike  in  authorized  office-books  and  in  the  writ- 
ings of  representative  theologians.  At  the  present  time  it 
is  the  official  doctrine  of  Eastern  Christians,  of  Western 
Christians  in  communion  with  the  See  of  Rome,  and  of 
Western  Christians  in  the  Church  of  England.  Looked  at 
merely  as  a  human  phenomenon,  the  unanimity  of  minds 

'  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World — Henry  Drummond. 


28  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

differing  so  greatly  under  circumstances  of  such  different 
character  would  of  necessity  demand  the  most  careful  atten- 
tion to  the  doctrine  thus  affirmed.  For  those  who  believe 
the  Holy  Ghost  teaches  and  guides  the  whole  Church,  it  is 
impossible  to  doubt  that  the  doctrine  thus  affirmed  comes  to 
us  with  the  authority  of  God  Himself."  ^ 

«  Holy  Baptism — Darwell  Stoae. 


MEMBERS  OF  CHRIST 

When  we  joined  the  Church  we  were  made  members  of 
Christ,  for  the  Church  is  the  Body  of  Christ,  the  extension 
and  perpetuation  of  the  Incarnation  in  the  world.  It  is 
not  enough  to  say  the  Church  represents  Christ,  for  a  repre- 
sentative has  a  personal  life  apart  from  the  person  repre 
sented,  and  the  Church  has  no  life  apart  from  Christ. 

The  human  body  is  a  visible  and  material  thing,  and 
through  it  the  spirit  receives  impressions,  and  acts ;  and  the 
Church,  the  Body  of  Christ,  is  a  human  and  material  society 
which  expresses  and  communicates  that  which  is  spiritual 
and  divine.  The  Church  is  not  the  soul  of  Christ  but  His 
Body ;  "as  clear  cut  and  definite,"  says  Fr.  Bull,  "as  His  In- 
carnate Body."  "Our  Lord,  in  redeeming  the  world,  did  not 
write  a  book.  As  far  as  we  know  He  wrote  nothing  at  all. 
He  formed  a  society  of  spirit-bearing  men  and  women  to 
be  His  Body,  through  which  He  might  energize  in  the  phe- 
nomenal, might  continue  to  teach  and  act;  to  be  the  instru- 
ment or  agent  of  His  self-revelation  and  self-bestowal 
through  which  He  will  work  out  the  world's  redemption. 
Our  Lord  saves  men,  not  merely  by  the  manifestation  of 
the  Truth,  but  by  the  bestowal  of  Life.  In  Holy  Baptism  He 
incorporates  them  into  His  redeemed  human  nature  by  a  new 
birth.  As  St.  Paul  shows  in  I  Cor.  12,  there  is  a  close  analogy 
between  a  human  body  and  tlie  Church."  "That  which  our 
Saviour  began  to  do  and  teach  in  the  human  body  of  His 
Incarnation  He  continues  to  do  and  teach  through  His 
mystical  Body,  the  Holy  Catholic  Church."  ^ 

>  The  Sacramental   Principle— P.   B.    Bull,   C.   R. 
3  29 


30  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

That  the  union  of  man  with  God  through  the  Incarnation 
of  His  Son  was  the  eternal  purpose  of  God,  and  not  depend- 
ent upon  the  fall  of  man,  we  are  led  to  believe  from  Holy 
Scripture.^  "When  the  'foundation  of  the  world'  was 
laid,  it  was  laid  with  a  view  to  the  Incarnation."  ^  Man 
was  made  for  Sonship.  The  Creed  teaches  us  it 
was  for  us  men  and  for  our  salvation,  two  distinct 
things,  the  Son  of  God  "came  down  from  heaven," 
"and  was  made  man,"  "not  by  the  conversion  of  the  God- 
head into  flesh,  but  by  the  taking  of  the  Manhood  unto 
God."  God  was  not  compelled  to  create.  He  did  not  need 
creation,  for  in  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Trinity  there  is 
perfect  beatitude.  But  God  is  love — that  is  His  very  nature 
— and  love  seeks  to  share  its  happiness.  The  creation  of 
man  in  His  image  with  the  god-like  prerogative  of  free  will, 
the  power  to  choose  or  reject  Him,  was  an  act  of  self  sacri- 
fice and  an  act  of  love,  and  when  man  used  that  power 
against  God  instead  of  for  Him,  and  chose  to  disobey  Him, 
the  love  of  God  shines  forth  in  greater  splendour,  for  He 
does  not  abandon  man  to  his  fate,  or  give  him  some  lower 
place,  but  goes  on  with  His  plan,  which  now  involves  re- 
demption. 

If  man  had  not  sinned  the  Incarnation  would  have  been 
an  amazing  condescension ;  but  what  shall  we  say  of  it  as 
we  know  it,  and  see  the  Son  of  God  taking  our  flesh,  and, 
with  it,  its  sin  and  shame  when  He  was  "Incarnate  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  was  made  man."  We 
can  only  bow  low  in  wonder  and  adoring  love.  "God 
commendeth  His  love  toward  us,  in  that,  while  we  were  yet 
sinners,  Christ  died  for  us." 

In  "the  laver  of  regeneration"*  we  receive  remis- 
sion of  sins,  both  original  and  actual.  But  we  receive 
something  more.  We  are  made  members  of  Christ,  "par- 
takers of  the  divine  nature."  ^  "Adam  in  Paradise  had 
no  such  glory  as  is  ours  through  Baptism.  h«  *  *  Rg. 
generation  places  us  on  a  higher  level  than  that  of  our  un- 

»Eph.  3:9-11.  ♦  Titus  3:5. 

"The  Faith  of  the  Gospel.— A.  J.  Mason.  "11  St.  Peter   1:4. 


MEMBERS  OF  CHRIST  31 

fallen  innocence.  'That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh, 
and  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  Spirit/  Flesh  may- 
attain  a  magnificent  nobility  of  character.  *  *  *  j^  ^{(^ 
so  in  the  case  of  St.  John  the  Baptist.  Our  Lord  takes  him 
as  the  highest  type  of  humanity  as  it  then  existed.  But  He 
says  that  St.  John,  after  all,  was  but  of  the  natural  order, 
'a  woman-born  thing.'®  The  least  in  the  new  order 
should  be — not  better, — but  greater  than  he, — higher 
in  the  scale  of  being,  because  partaking,  not  only  of 
human  nature  at  its  highest,  but  of  the  Divine."^  Think 
of  that !  The  most  insignificant  child  regenerate  and  made 
a  Christian  in  baptism  is  greater  than  the  greatest  of  the 
Old  Testament  Saints.^ 

The  Apostle  speaks  "of  the  possession  of  baptismal  privi- 
leges as  a  reason  for  real  and  energetic  struggle  to  do  what 
is  right.  'But  ye  were  washed,  but  ye  were  sanctified,  but 
ye  were  justified  in  the  Name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  in  the  Spirit  of  our  God.  .  .  .  Know  ye  not  that  your 
bodies  are  members  of  Christ?  Shall  I  then  take  away  the 
members  of  Christ,  and  make  them  members  of  a  harlot? 
God  forbid.  .  .  .  Know  ye  not  that  your  body  is  a  temple 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  in  you,  which  ye  have  from  God? 
and  ye  are  not  your  own,  for  ye  were  bought  with  a  price : 
glorify  God  therefore  in  your  body.'  "  ^ 

By  this  new  birth  and  membership  in  Christ's  glorified 
humanity,  we  become  children  of  God  and  inheritors  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven.  Men  generally,  Jew  and  Gentile  alike, 
have  believed  "we  are  the  offspring  of  God"  ^^  and,  in 
the  sense  that  God  is  the  author  of  our  being,  have 
believed  that  He  is  our  Father.     But  the  Fatherhood  of 

•  St.  Matt.   11:11. 

''  The   Faith  of  the  Gospel. — A.  J.   Mason. 

•  Our  Lord  spoke  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  in  this  world.  After  his  death 
upon  the  cross  the  Saviour  descended  into  Hades,  the  place  of  departed  spirits, 
and  carried  to  the  Old  Testament  Saints  and  other  penitent  believers  the  glad 
tidings   and  the   fruits  of  His   redemption.      (1    Peter  3:18-20.) 

•  Holy  Baptism. — Darwell  Stone. 
WActs  17:29. 


32  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

God,  as  we  understand  it,  is  something  much  more  than  this. 
Bishop  Gore  says  it  is  historical  fact  that  this  truth  came  into 
the  world  as  part  of  Christianity. 

The  Fatherhood  of  God  then  is  a  dogma  of  the  Christian 
religion.  The  first  article  of  the  CathoHc  Creed  is,  "I  beheve 
in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  maker  of  heaven  and  earth, 
and  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible."  One  of  the  objects 
of  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God  was  to  "show  us  the 
Father,"  and  in  the  lowliness  of  the  Incarnation,  in  a  life 
of  perfect  obedience,  and  in  the  painful  and  shameful  death 
of  the  Cross,  the  Father  is  revealed.  God  is  love.  God 
so  loved  the  world  that  He  sent  His  Son  into  the  world. 
He  "spared  not  His  own  Son,  but  delivered  Him  up  for 
us  all."  By  His  resurrection  from  the  dead,  the  conqueror 
of  Sin,  Satan  and  death,  the  Father  is  revealed  as  Almighty ; 
by  His  ascension  into  Heaven  He  took  our  human  nature 
spiritualized  and  glorified  to  the  right  hand  of  the  Father, 
and  through  it  He  sends  the  Holy  Ghost  to  make  us  the 
sons  of  God.  God  so  loved  the  world !  He  that  spared 
not  His  Own  Son,  "shall  He  not  with  Him  also  freely  give 
us  all  things  ?"  asks  the  Apostle.* 

But  the  Fatherhood  of  God  means  authority  and  disci- 
pline, and,  if  we  disobey  and  do  wrong,  punishment.  "What 
son  is  he  whom  the  father  chasteneth  not?  But  if  ye  be 
without  chastisement,  whereof  all  are  partakers,  then  are 
ye  bastards,  and  not  sons."  ^^  On  our  part  it  means  love, 
loyalty  and  obedience. 

The  Fatherhood  of  God  means  the  Brotherhood  of  Man. 
The  Church  is  the  Household  of  God — a  home — a  family 
— and  in  the  first  word  of  the  family  prayer  we  are  taught 
that,  as  members  of  Christ  and  children  of  God,  the  baptized 
are  members  one  of  another.  We  as  a  family  must  jealously 
guard  our  Father's  honor,  be  about  our  Father's  business, 
strive  to  please  Him  and  do  His  will,  look  to   Him  and 

"Heb.   12:5-10. 

*  Rom.  8:32. 


MEMBERS  OF  CHRIST  33 

depend  on  Him  to  supply  our  daily  needs,  live  in  love  with 
one  another,  and  fight  His  enemies.  It  has  been  well  said, 
"Mankind  was  meant  to  depend  on  and  centre  in  God  as 
truly  as  a  family  depends  on  and  centres  in  the  father. 
From  God  'every  fatherhood  in  heaven  and  earth  derives 
its  name,'  and  we  judge  human  families  and  human  fathers 
to  the  extent  to  which  they  are  bound  up  with  each  other. 
The  closer  the  interdependence  the  more  right  is  the  situa- 
tion. But  it  can  only  be  kept  right  by  mutual  action.  Mere 
fatherhood  on  the  one  side  can  do  nothing  unless  there  is 
filial  recognition  on  the  other.  And  there  lies  the  key  to 
the  human  tragedy.  Men  have  talked  of  the  Fatherhood 
of  God  and  also  of  the  Brotherhood  of  man,  but  have  failed 
to  keep  the  two  together.  If  our  dream  of  human  brother- 
hood has  been  shattered  by  the  events  of  to-day,  is  it  not  a 
reminder  that  we  have  ceased  to  take  the  divine  Father- 
hood seriously  ?"  ^^ 

As  members  of  Christ  and  children  of  God  we  are  mem- 
bers and  inheritors  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  Our  Lord 
came  into  the  world  to  found  a  kingdom.  He  told  Pilate 
this  when  the  acknowledgment  of  the  claim  meant  death. 
He  proclaimed  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom.  His  preaching 
and  parables  were  of  the  kingdom,  and  He  died  with  this 
accusation  over  His  head.  His  kingdom  was  to  be  in  the 
world  but  not  of  it. 

The  Church  is  the  Kingdom  of  God,  the  Home  of  Sal- 
vation, an  organization  with  officers  and  a  system  of  govern- 
ment. But  this  organization  or  kingdom  is  not  a  collection 
of  individuals't)f  similar  aims  and  interests,  who  have  joined 
together  to  found  a  society  which  they  can  leave  when  they 
feel  like  it.  It  is  a  family,  a  body  of  one  blood,  with  one 
head.  The  members  of  this  kingdom  or  family  did  not 
found  it,  and  one  can  only  become  a  member  of  it  by  being 
born  into  it.  This  kingdom  then  is  within  as  well  as  with- 
in The  Creed  of  a  Churchman. 


34  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

out  us,  by  reason  of  the  one  life  through  the  new  birth, 
so  there  must  also  be  within  us  the  ideals  and  purposes  of 
the  kingdom.  There  is  one  Spirit  as  well  as  one  Body,  and 
we  must  endeavor  to  keep  **the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
bond  of  peace"  even  as  we  are  called  in  one  hope  of  our 
calling.  "One  Lord,  one  Faith,  one  Baptism,  one  God 
and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and 
in  you  all."  ^^ 

In  baptism  we  swore  allegiance  to  Christ  our  King,  and 
were  signed  with  the  cross.  His  mark,  "in  token  that  here- 
after we  shall  not  be  ashamed  to  confess  the  faith  of  Christ 
crucified,  and  manfully  to  fight  under  His  banner,  against 
sin,  the  world,  and  the  devil ;  and  to  continue  Christ's  faith- 
ful soldier  and  servant  unto  our  life's  end."  We  must  fight 
against  our  Lord's  enemies  who  work  for  our  destruction, 
we  must  establish  His  rule  over  our  souls  and  bodies,  and 
we  must  also  fight  His  enemies  in  the  world,  and  work  and 
pray  for  the  coming  of  His  kingdom  among  men.  His 
kingdom  is  here  in  the  world  but  it  has  not  yet  come,  that 
is,  it  is  not  yet  established.  Our  Lord  founded  it  and  left 
it  to  us  to  build  up.  It  has  not  come  because  Christians 
have  not  been  faithful  in  carrying  out  their  Lord's  com- 
mands. It  will  come.  The  question  is,  will  we  have  a  share 
in  it  and  a  share  in  bringing  it  about? 

The  baptized  are  the  elect,  the  called  of  God,  and  the 
Church  is  the  elect  Body.  It  is  for  us  to  make  our  "calling 
and  election  sure."  In  our  Catechism  we  are  taught  to  thank 
God  for  having  brought  us  by  baptism  into  "this  state  of 
salvation."  This  is  His  free  gift.  It  is  for  us  to  work  out 
our  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,  remembering  that  it 
is  "God  that  worketh  in  us  to  will  and  to  do  His  good  pleas- 
ure." Judas  was  one  of  the  elect,  called  and  chosen  by  the 
Lord  who  saw  in  him  great  good  and  great  gifts  and  possi- 
bilities.    But  Judas  hated  and  finally  rejected  the   Cross. 

"Eph.  4:4-6. 


MEMBERS  OF  CHRIST  35 

When  the  Lord  refused  to  be  made  an  earthly  king,  and 
began  to  say  hard  things,  and  became  unpopular,  Judas  was 
dissatisfied/*  The  other  Apostles  also  looked  for  a  Mes- 
siah who  would  free  them  from  their  earthly  enemies, 
and  restore  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  but  although  dis- 
tressed and  perplexed  they  loved  and  trusted  the  Master. 
Judas  did  not,  and  gradually  drifted  farther  and  farther 
from  Him,  growing  sullen  and  discontented,  until  at 
last  he  came  to  a  point  when  he  could  do  the  das- 
tardly deed  for  which  he  will  be  forever  remembered;  he 
betrayed  His  Lord,  ended  his  life  not  as  a  penitent  but  as 
a  suicide,  and  the  Scripture  tells  us  "went  to  his  own  place," 
not  the  place  God  had  prepared  for  him  and  to  which  he 
had  been  called  by  our  Lord,  but  to  the  place  he  chose  for 
himself. 

Hell  is  the  abode  of  those  who  have  lost  God.  In  hell 
there  is  no  fellowship,  for  there  is  no  love.  It  is  the  abode 
of  hatred,  of  selfishness  and  suffering.  "There  shall  be 
weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth" — impotent  rage  and  despair. 
Like  the  impenitent  thief  on  the  cross,  with  them  suffering 
brings  nothing  but  rage,  hatred,  and  cursing  of  God  and 
goodness.  The  inhabitants  of  hell  have  killed  all  good  in 
themselves  by  the  hardening  of  their  hearts  through  repeated 
resistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  seems  to  be  the  sin 
against  the  Holy  Ghost,  not  any  one  sin,  but  deliberately  and 
wilfully  sinning,  again  and  again,  against  God,  against  light, 
and,  with  the  baptized,  against  grace  also,  resisting  the  Holy 
Spirit's  calls  to  repentance  until  at  last  the  heart  is  so  hard- 
ened it  cannot  respond  to  God's  appeals.  It  loves  evil  and 
hates  good,  and  becomes  a  devil  and  tempter  of  others. 

But  is  this  the  condition  of  those  who  have  not  been 
baptized?  Does  the  Church  teach  God  will  punish  infants 
in  hell  for  sins  they  did  not  commit  ?    Certainly  not.    It  was 

"St.  John  6:60-66. 


36  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

a  heretic,  John  Calvin,  who  taught  that,  and  the  Church  con- 
demned it.  But  what  about  good  men  in  heathen  lands, 
and  in  Christian  lands  too,  who  have  never  been  baptized? 
God  has  not  satisfied  our  curiosity  by  telling  us  how  He  will 
deal  with  them.  His  revelation  is  a  revelation  of  His 
covenant  relations  with  men  under  the  old  and  the  new 
covenants,  and  under  the  old  covenant  we  see  how  great 
are  His  uncovenanted  mercies,  and  how  He  constantly  re- 
minded the  Jews  of  their  responsibility  as  His  elect  people, 
and  warned  them  of  the  danger  of  losing  their  inheritance. 
Dr.  Stone  says,  "There  are  many  who  have  never  heard  of 
Baptism,  of  whom  it  may  be  thought  that,  if  they  had  known 
of  it,  they  would  have  received  it.  There  are  others  who 
aave  never  been  taught  the  fulness  of  Scriptural  and  Church 
truth,  to  whom  clearer  and  more  adequate  teaching  would 
liave  made  a  strong  appeal.  There  are  others,  again,  the 
circumstances  of  whose  education  or  history  have  been  of 
such  a  kind  that,  while  earnestly  desirous  of  knowing  the 
truth  and  doing  their  duty,  they  have  failed  to  understand 
the  obligation  of  receiving  this  Sacrament  without,  as  it 
would  seem,  any  fault  of  their  own.  *  *  *  God  alone  can 
tell  how  far  the  conscience  of  any  individual  has  become 
so  distorted  by  his  surroundings  or  his  history  that  he  has, 
while  he  desires  to  do  what  is  right,  become  incapable  of 
realizing  the  truth  on  this  subject.  It  is  our  task  to  affirm 
what  Christ  himself  has  declared,  to  hand  on  the  teaching 
of  His  Church,  and  to  leave  the  difficulties  of  individual 
lives  to  Him  who  alone  knows  in  their  fulness  the  needs 
and  the  circumstances  and  the  hearts  of  men."  ^^ 

We  know  too  that  God  is  free  and  is  not  tied  to  His 
means.  There  are  some  who  think  God  will  give  in  the 
next  world  to  those  who  have  not  had  a  chance  here  (and 
only   He   knows   that)    the   benefits   of    His   Redemption. 

"  Holy  Baptism. — Darwell  Stone. 


MEMBERS  OF  CHRIST  37 

Others  believe  good  unbaptized  people  will  constitute  an- 
other order  of  beings  in  Heaven.  The  Angels  are  a  different 
order  from  the  Saints.  They  are  not  members  of  Christ's 
glorified  Body.  But  these  are  only  guesses.  When  St.  Peter 
asked  the  Lord  about  His  plans  for  another  man  the  answer 
was  "What  is  that  to  thee ;  follow  thou  me." 

We  know  God  loves  men  better  than  we  do ;  wq  know  that 
He  is  just  and  righteous,  that  He  will  judge  men  by  their 
faithfulness  to  the  light  they  have  had,  and  that  at  the  con- 
summation of  all  things  we  shall  see  this  and  be  satisfied. 
We  know  also  that  we  have  light  and  grace  and  must  answer 
for  our  use  of  both;  so  we  must  hope  all  things  for  others 
and  fear  for  ourselves. 

We  are  reminded  by  our  Lord  and  His  Church  again  and 
again,  that  it  is  only  by  walking  in  the  way  of  the  Cross 
with  which  we  were  signed  we  can  win  our  battles  and  at 
last  enter  into  our  inheritance.  It  is  the  narrow  way  of 
discipline  and  sacrifice,  but  it  is  also  the  way  of  joy,  of 
peace,  and  of  freedom  here,  and  leads  to  the  Vision  of  God 
and  "our  perfect  consummation  and  bliss,  both  in  body  and 
soul,"  in  His  eternal  kingdom  hereafter.  St.  Paul,  v/ho 
knew  suffering,  says,  "I  reckon  the  sufferings  of  this  present 
world  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  to  the  glory  that  shall 
be  revealed  in  us."  Not  something  added  to  us  hereafter, 
but  the  life  of  Christ  received  in  the  Sacraments,  revealed 
in  us.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  true  Christian,  no  matter 
v/hat  his  condition,  can  thank  God  for  his  creation.  He  may 
be  a  poor,  lonely,  blind  sufferer,  but  it  doth  not  yet  appear 
what  he  shall  be.  The  sufferings  and  sorrows  of  life  united 
to  the  Cross  of  Christ,  and  borne  in  union  with  Him,  are 
the  raw  material  from  which  our  Lord  and  Saviour  makes 
our  future  glory  and  beatitude. 

Members  of  Christ,  children  of  God,  inheritors  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven !     Heaven  is  but  the  perfected  union 


38  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

with  God  which  was  effected  at  our  baptism.  "Beloved, 
now  are  we  the  Sons  of  God,  and  it  doth  not  yet  appear 
what  we  shall  be :  but  we  know  that,  when  He  shall  appear, 
we  shall  be  like  Him ;  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is.  And 
every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in  him  purifieth  himself,  even 
as  he  is  pure."  ^^ 

"I  John  3:2,3. 


•  INFANT  MEMBERSHIP 

'"Blest  be  the  Church,  that  watching  o'er  the  needs 
Of  infancy,  provides  a  timely  shower, 
Whose  virtue  changes  to  a  Christian  Flower 
A  growth  from  sinful  nature's  bed  of  weeds  1 
Fitliest  beneath  the  sacred  roof  proceeds 
The  ministration;  while  parental  Love 
Looks  on,  and  grace  descendeth  from  above, 
As  the  high  service  pledges  now,  now  pleads." 

— Wordsworth's  Ecclesiastical  Sonnets,  XV. 

The  Church  shown  us  in  the  New  Testament  is  a  great 
family — the  Household  of  God — and  we  cannot  think  of  a 
family  without  children.  The  Jewish  Church  admits  children 
to  membership,  and  it  would  be  strange  indeed  if  the  Chris- 
tian Church  calling  herself  Catholic  rejected  them.  It  has 
never  done  so.  A  Churchman  asked  why  he  believes  in  infant 
baptism,  might  very  properly  reply,  I  believe  in  infant  bap- 
tism :  First,  because  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church, 
"the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth,"^  which  our  Lord 
promised  to  guide  by  His  Holy  Spirit  into  all  truth,  and  the 
Church  always  and  everywhere  has  baptized  infants.  Second, 
I  believe  in  infant  baptism  because  the  Church  is  Catholic 
and  could  not  be  so  if  it  excluded  children.  Third,  I  believe 
in  infant  baptism  because,  in  founding  His  Church,  our  Lord 
and  Master  made  children  the  standard  of  membership. 
"Of  such  is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,"  He  said.  Children 
need  not  wait  to  grow  up  and  have  knowledge  and  experi- 
ence to  enter  His  Kingdom ;  nay,  these  things  are  hindrances. 
The  little  child  needs  no  conversion,  but  the  adult  must  be 
converted  and  become  as  a  little  child  if  he  would  enter  the 
Kingdom. 

»I  Tim.  3:15. 

39 


40  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

If  we  look  to  the  writings  of  the  first  centuries,  Christian 
and  heathen,  we  have  abundant  proof  that  infant  baptism 
was  the  practice  of  the  Church  at  that  time.  Justin  Martyr 
and  Irenaeus,  who  were  born  at  the  close  of  the  first  century, 
in  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  Origen,  who  was  born  in  the 
second  century  and  "trained  from  infancy  by  Christian 
parents,  and  who  visited  in  his  travels  most  of  the  churches 
in  the  world,  and  gained  the  reputation  of  being  the  most 
learned  man  of  his  time,"  and  many  others,  testify  that  the 
Church  at  that  time  received  infants  into  membership.  St. 
Irenaeus,  speaking  of  baptism  as  regeneration,  mentions 
among  those  who  are  thus  regenerated  "Infants  and  little 
ones,  children,  and  youths,  and  elder  persons."  Origen  says, 
"The  Church  received  from  the  Apostles  a  tradition  to  give 
baptism  also  to  infants.  For  they  to  whom  the  Divine 
Mysteries  were  committed,  knew  that  there  is  in  all  persons 
the  natural  pollution  of  sin,  which  should  be  washed  away 
by  water  and  the  Spirit,  and  on  account  of  which,  also,  the 
body  itself  is  called  the  body  of  sin." 

"We  would  appeal  then  to  your  reason ;  who  is  most  likely 
to  be  correct  on  this  point," — St.  Irenaeus,  the  martyr,  who 
was  born  during  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  "and  trained  up 
under  St.  Polycarp,  'the  angel  of  the  Church  in  Smyrna,' 
who  had  himself  been  a  disciple  of  St.  John" ;  "Origen,  who 
lived  before  the  memory  of  the  Apostles  had  faded  from  the 
Church — or  those  who,  1500  years  after  their  day,  for  the 
first  time  discovered  that  infant  baptism  should  not  be 
administered  ?"^ 

To  understand  the  rise  of  the  strange  heresy  that  denied 
baptism  and  membership  in  the  Christian  Church  to  infants, 
we  must  understand  the  times  that  produced  it.  The  six- 
teenth century  w^as  an  age  of  unrest  and  unsettlement.  The 
invention  of  the  printing  press  spread  education,  and  the 
Bible  having  been  translated  into  the  language  of  the  people, 

8  The  Double  Witness  of  the  Church— Bishop  Kip. 


INFANT  MEMBERSHIP  41 

many  were  now  able  to  read  for  themselves.  Great  abuses 
had  grown  up  in  the  Church,  chiefly  due  to  the  increasing 
spiritual  and  political  power  of  the  Papacy.  Protests  against 
this  were  made  by  the  bishops,  clergy  and  laity,  especially  in 
England.  On  the  continent  of  Europe  the  effort  at  reform 
led  the  reformers  to  leave  the  Church  and  form  new  organi- 
zations. In  England  in  the  sixteenth  century  the  Church 
reformed  herself,  and  a  quarrel  between  the  King  and  the 
Pope  enabled  the  English  Church  to  regain  her  freedom.  The 
English  Church  did  not  separate  from  the  Roman  Church. 
The  Roman  Church  separated  from  the  English  Church  be- 
cause the  latter  would  not  submit  to  Papal  domination.  Sup- 
pose to-day  the  Church  in  France  agreed  to  throw  off  the 
Roman  yoke,  and  said,  "We  will  elect  our  own  bishops  and 
run  our  own  Church,"  and  then  proceeded  to  do  so,  the  same 
bishops  and  clergy  and  the  same  Church  meeting  in  Council 
as  a  National  Church,  and  legislating  for  the  Church  in 
France,  it  would  be  doing  just  what  was  done  in  England  in 
the  sixteenth  century.  Many  devout  Frenchmen,  loyal  to 
their  country  and  Church,  have  said  for  years  "We  ought  to 
do  what  the  English  did,  keep  our  Church  and  get  rid  of 
Roman  domination  in  Church  and  State. "^ 

Later  in  the  sixteenth  century  the  teaching  of  the  reform- 
ers in  Germany,  Switzerland  and  Holland,  was  brought  to 
England  by  the  returning  refugees  who  had  fled  to  the  con- 
tinent during  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary ;  and  soon  after  the 
ascension  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  the  leading  Calvinists  began 
their  struggle  to  make  the  National  Church  of  England 
Presbyterian.  This  culminated  in  the  great  Rebellion,  with 
their  defeat  and  separation  from  the  Church.  Those  who 
left  the  Church  and  started  new  org?.nizations,  took  the  Bible 
and  their  private  interpretation  of  it  as  their  guide.  Now 
the  Bible  is  the  Church's  book.     It  was  written  by  Church- 

*  The   great   Eastern    Church    has   always   denounced   the  claims  of  the   Pope. 

Ft  will  be   recalled   that  tlie   Church    originated  in   the   East,   and  that  the  firsi 

Church  Council  was  held,  not  in  Rome  but  in  Jerusalem,  and  was  presided 
over  by  St.  James    (Acts  15:13). 


42  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

men  for  Church  people,  years  after  the  Church  was  organized 
with  its  three  orders  of  ministry  and  its  Liturgy.*  "The 
Church  to  teach  and  the  Bible  to  prove,"  was  the  old  saying. 
The  books  of  the  New  Testament,  as  the  study  of  these 
books  plainly  show,  were  not  written  to  give  men  their  first 
knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  and  His  revelation.  They  "were 
written  for  men  and  women  who  had  been  taught  'the  tra- 
dition,' 'the  faith  once  for  all  delivered,'  'the  first  principles' 
of  the  Christian  religion."  "Our  Lord  intended  that  men 
should  learn,  not  from  books,  but  from  persons;  all  His 
methods  show  us  this.  This  is  why  He  taught  His  Apostles 
to  be  witnesses,  instead  of  writing  Himself  or  teaching  them 
to  write.  And,  further,  He  did  not  mean  men  to  learn  from 
mere  individual  teachers,  however  much  inspired.  He 
formed  a  Church,  or  organised  body,  and  He  left  to  the 
Church  the  duty  of  being  witness  to  the  truth  till  He  should 
come  again.  It  is  the  Church  which,  as  St.  Paul  says,  is  'the 
pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth.'  "^ 

In  the  sixteenth  century  when  the  would-be  reformers 
put  the  Bible  in  place  of  the  Church,  they  broke  again  the 
Body  of  Christ,  and  substituted  discord  and  confusion  for 
the  one  Body  and  the  one  Spirit,  because  men's  interpreta- 
tions of  the  Bible  did  not  agree.  In  England  most  of  these 
bodies  (Presbyterians,  Congregationalists  and  Baptists)  were 
Puritan,  and  Puritanism  is,  in  few  words,  "the  conception 
that  the  Church  was  intended  by  its  Author  to  be  a  social, 
and  not  an  educational,  brotherhood ;  to  be  a  club  for  enjoy- 
ing happy  Christian  fellowship,  and  not  a  school  for  bringing 
men  gradually  to  Christ ;  to  be,  in  short,  a  select  and  exclusive 
circle  of  Heaven's  favourites,  instead  of  a  broad  and  inclu- 
sive 'net'  for  sweeping  in  all  of  every  kind.  It  is  the  pleasing 
dream  of  a  sort  of  little  heaven  for  mutual  participation  of 
spiritual  pleasures, — instead  of  the  nobler  conception  of  a 
vast  and  perilous  field  where  the  tares  are  mingled  with  the 

*  The  Liturgy  is  the  service  for  the  celebration  of  the  Eucharist. 
0  The  Creed  of  the  Christian.— C.  Gore. 


INFANT  MEMBERSHIP  43 

•wheat,  where  Christ's  husbandry,  Christ's  building  has  to  be 
done, — and  where  risks  are  to  be  run,  dangers  courted,  spirit- 
ual lepers  taken  in  to  tend  and  nurse,  ignorance  beckoned 
that  it  may  be  taught,  weakness  encouraged  that  it  may  be 
strengthened,  childhood  smiled  upon  and  warmly  welcomed, 
that  it  may  be  educated,  guarded,  matured,  and  rendered 
back  at  last  to  Christ — the  good,  the  loving,  the  friend  of 
publicans  and  sinners,  who  pleased  not  Himself,  and  gave  us 
an  example  that  we  should  become  'fellow-workers  with 
Him.' "  The  fixed  Puritan  idea  is  ''that  the  Church 
consists  only  of  holy  and  godly  persons,  or  rather — as  it  is 
impossible  for  human  eye  to  discriminate  such  persons  from 
hypocrites — of  'professors'  (as  they  are  called),  who  give 
what  seems  evidence  of  holiness  and  godliness.  And,  there- 
fore, carrying  out  this  idea  to  its  legitimate  and  logical  con- 
clusion, a  Baptist  would  say,  'children  and  immature  persons 
(although  'of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven')  I  cannot 
possibly  allow  to  be  fit  members  of  a  society  of  conscious, 
mature,  professing  believers.  If  I  educate  them,  it  will  be 
as  outsiders,  who  may  one  day  be  brought  in,  or  who  may 
not.' "« 

Fr.  Figgis  says,  "Historically  Puritanism  always  was  oh- 
garchic ;  history  has  never  suffered  a  deeper  perversion  than 
in  the  popular  notion  that  Puritans  were  democrats.  Calvin 
certainly  never  professed  to  be  one.  The  root-idea  of  Cal- 
vinism is  the  faith  that  Christ  did  not  die  for  all,  and  that 
Christianity  is  a  coterie  of  religious  aristocrats ;  and  even  in 
the  last  century  M'Cleod  Campbell  was  condemned  for 
asserting  the  contrary.  Oligarchy  in  religion  takes  many 
forms ;  but  in  one  way  or  another  it  is  at  the  bottom  of  nearly 
all  the  Protestant  systems.  Luther  went  through  a  devas- 
tating experience,  and  came  finally  to  something  real.  This 
he  tried  to  universalise  into  his  doctrine  of  justification  by 
faith.    From  the  days  of  Luther  it  has  been  the  aim  of  every 

•  Dissent,  in  its  Relation  to  the  Church  of  England. — G.  H.  Curteis. 


44  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

'believer' — in  the  Protestant  sense —  to  go  through  an  experi- 
ence at  least  analogous.  Those  who  have  it  not,  and  are 
without  this  feeling  of  assurance,  are  not  to  be  treated  as 
true  Christians."  ^ 

The  Presbyterian  Puritans  (Calvinists)  and  other  Protes- 
tant bodies  continue  to  baptize  infants  as  a  Scriptural  prac- 
tice but  deny  the  Scriptural  teaching  of  regeneration  and 
remission  of  sins  in  baptism.  They  hold  it  to  be  merely  a 
dedication  of  the  child  to  God.  The  parents  make  no 
promises  for  the  child,  but  promise  for  themselves  to 
bring  up  the  child  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  to  teach  him 
the  Christian  faith.  Some  denominations  require  also  a 
promise  to  bring  up  the  child  in  that  sect.  When  the  child 
grows  up  they  hope  he  will  be  converted  and  join  the  church. 
They  teach  that  a  person  is  regenerate  by  conversion,  that  is, 
by  his  own  act.  "How  different  is  the  method  of  the 
Catholic  Church !  The  membership  begins  with  baptism, 
and  is  thus  treated  as  independent  of  feeling  and  tempera- 
ment. With  its  conception  of  the  Christian  life  as  a  growth, 
nourished  by  the  sacraments,  it  can  find  a  place  for  the  child 
and  for  every  kind  of  character,  while  in  no  way  denying 
the  need,  in  the  case  of  some,  for  those  cataclysms  of  the 
spirit  that  are  called  conversion."  ^ 

The  Catholic  Church  teaches  that  all  persons  baptized 
with  water  in  the  Name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  members  of  the  Church,  no  matter 
by  whom  baptized.  A  minister  does  not  baptize  into  his  sect, 
or  even  into  his  part  of  the  Catholic  Church,  but  into  the 
Body  of  Christ.  "S.  Augustine,"  says  Dr.  Stone,  "with  that 
harmony  of  dogmatic  clearness  and  charitable  sympathy 
which  marks  his  teaching  on  the  subject  of  the  Church, 
asserts  that  the  children  who  are  born  to  God  in  Baptism  are 
the  fruit  not  of  division  but  of  union.  If  the  religious  body 
in  which  they  have  received  Baptism  has  lost  by  separation 

^-8  The  Fellowship  of  the  Mystery.— J.  N.  Figgis,  C.    R. 


INFANT  MEMBERSHIP  45 

the  bond  of  affection  and  peace  which  should  bind  it  to  the 
Church,  it  is  united  to  her  by  the  one  Baptism  of  Christians. 
There  is  only  one  Church  which  has  the  name  Catholic; 
but  she  possesses  something  of  her  own  in  those  who  are 
divided  from  her  unity ;  and,  by  virtue  of  this  which  she  has 
in  them,  it  is  she,  and  not  they,  who  is  the  mother  of  the 
sons."^  Baptized  persons,  not  knowing  their  true  mother, 
may  join  the  Presbyterian  or  Lutheran  body,  or  any  other 
body  they  choose,  in  the  way  prescribed  by  that  body,  but  they 
have  in  Christian  baptism  joined  the  Body  of  Christ,  the 
Holy  Catholic  Church,  and  a  person  thus  baptized  can  never 
become  an  unbaptized  person,  for  baptism  confers  character. 
The  first  Baptists,  who  were  also  Puritans  and  Calvinists, 
took  a  different  view  from  the  Presbyterians.  They  saw  the 
Church's  teaching  of  baptism  was  in  accordance  with  Holy 
Scripture,  and  they  accounted  for  the  large  number  of  un- 
worthy Christians  by  saying  they  had  never  been  baptized. 
They  held  that  repentance,  faith  and  conversion  were  neces- 
sary for  valid  baptism ;  therefore,  infants  could  not  be  bap- 
tized, and  baptism  must  be  by  immersion.  They  declared 
that  baptism  by  affusion  and  the  baptism  of  infants  were 
corrupt  practices  that  had  crept  into  the  Church,  and  were  a 
departure  from  primitive  ways.  The  man  who  first  dis- 
covered and  taught  this  was  Munzer  in  1521,  and  in  1534  the 
sect  of  Anabaptists  (re-baptizers)  as  they  were  called, 
became  regularly  organized  as  a  distinct  religious  society. 
"In  this  year,  headed  by  John  Boccold,  a  journeyman  tailor, 
whom  they  had  named  their  king,  and  incited  to  the  most 
impious  extravagances  by  John  Matthias,  a  baker,  who 
claimed  to  be  a  prophet,  they  captured  the  city  of  Munster, 
and  attempted  to  establish  a  kingdom  to  be  called  the  New 
Zion.  The  city  being  re-captured  in  the  following  year,  and 
their  forces  dispersed,  some  escaped  to  England,  and  then 

•  Holy   Baptism. — Darwell   Stone. 

4 


46  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

for  the  first  time  these  doctrines  began  to  spread  in  that 
land/'i'^ 

In  1633  the  Baptists  separated  from  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land and  from  the  Independents  (Congregationalists),  and 
estabHshed  the  first  Baptist  congregation  in  England.  That 
same  year  they  split  in  two  main  branches :  the  General  Bap- 
tists and  the  Particular  Baptists,  the  latter  stern  Calvinists, 
and  there  are  now  said  to  be  over  one  hundred  Baptist  sects, 
In  spite  of  all  their  regulations  love  of  worldly  gain  crept 
in.  "You  close  the  door ;  and  you  find  you  have  shut  in  the 
evil  spirit  with  you  into  your  cell.  You  sift  among  Chris- 
tians, and  rebaptize  into  some  special  coterie  those  whom 
you  think  to  'give  evidence'  of  their  sincerity, — but  the 
'evidence'  will  be,  in  a  hundred  cases,  deceptive,  and  you 
will  be  certain  to  admit  many  a  hypocrite  within  the  fold." 

"But  not  merely  will  hypocrisy  creep  in,  and  infest,  more 
fatally  than  under  any  free  and  open-air  system,  the  close 
and  narrow  purism  of  these  separate  societies.  Another 
danger  also  attends  upon  them,  like  their  shadow :  and  that 
is,  the  danger  of  perpetual  subdivision/' 

In  1653  John  Bunyan  joined  the  Baptists  and  began  to 
preach,  and  later  he  said,  "I  would  be  (and  hope  I  am)  a 
Christian.  .  .  .  But  as  for  those  factious  titles  of 
Anabaptists,  Independents,  Presbyterians,  or  the  like, — I 
conclude  they  came  neither  from  Jerusalem  nor  Antioch,  but 
rather  from  Hell  and  Babylon.  For  they  naturally  tend  to 
divisions :  you  may  know  them  by  their  fruits."  ^^ 

Roger  Williams  founded  the  sect  in  this  country.  But  who 
gave  him  his  commission  ?  We  are  told  in  the  History  of  the 
Baptist  Church  in  Providence  that  "to  obtain  a  suitable  ad- 
ministrator was  a  matter  of  consequence.  At  length  the 
candidates  for  communion  nominated  and  appointed  Ezekiel 
Holliman,  a  man  of  gifts  and  piety,  to  baptise  Mr.  Williams, 

^°  Mosheim's  Eccles.  Hist.  v.  iii,  p.  65,  quoted  in  The  Double  Witness  of  th< 
Clmrcli. — Bishop  Kip. 

»*  Quoted  in  Dissent,  in  its  Relation  to  the  Church  of  England. — G.  H.  Curteis. 


INFANT  MEMBERSHIP  47 

and  who  in  return  baptized  Mr.  Holliman  and  the  other  ten. 
It  is  now  a  principle  for  which  none  contend  more  strenu- 
ously than  the  Baptist,  that  Scriptural  and  valid  baptism 
cannot  be  administered  by  any  one  who  is  himself  imbaptized. 
Yet  of  these  twelve  persons  who  thus  baptized  each  other, 
not  one  had  previously  been  immersed,  and,  of  course,  on 
Baptist  principles,  they  were  imbaptized.  What  right,  then, 
had  they  to  admit  into  the  visible  fold  of  Christ,  or  to  'form 
themselves  into  a  Church  ?'  And  are  not  the  Baptists  in  this 
country,  on  their  own  confession,  now  destitute  of  any  kind 
of  valid  baptism  ?"^^ 

These  various  sects  that  left  the  Church  of  England  to  be 
more  pure  and  more  Evangelical,  and  who  refuse  to  receive 
infants  as  members  of  the  Church,  are  denying  the  funda- 
mental truth  of  Evangelical  reHgion,  that  salvation  is 
God's  free  gift  and  we  can  do  nothing  to  merit  it. 
"The  Catholic  Church,  by  baptizing  infants,  teaches  that 
grace  is  the  free  gift  of  God's  love.  We  teach  the  priority 
of  God,  that  before  we  can  do  anything  to  please  or  displease 
Him  God  has  surrounded  us  with  His  redeeming  love,  that 
the  soul  of  the  Christian  child  begins  its  unfolding  in  an 
atmosphere  of  God's  goodness.  Just  as  its  opening  eyes  gaze 
not  at  first  on  a  hostile  world,  but  on  the  face  of  a  loving 
mother  whose  arms  are  around  it  to  support  its  feeble  efforts 
and  to  shield  it  from  harm,  so  its  soul  awakens  to  find  that 
Jesus,  in  His  Body  the  Church,  has  already  surrounded  it 
with  an  atmosphere  of  love,  has  'embraced  it  with  the  arms 
of  His  mercy',  has  'given  it  the  blessing  of  eternal  life.'  In 
my  own  experience  of  the  conversion  of  souls,"  says  Fr. 
Bull,  "I  have  found  that  this  priority  of  God  and  His  pre- 
venient  love  is  a  truth  of  immense  power."  ^^ 

The  Baptists  of  course  could  not  allow  other  Puritans 
(Presbyterians  or  Congregationalists)  to  come  to  their  Com- 
munion, nor  could  they  have  any  religious  affiliation  with 

"The  Double  Witness  of  the  Church. — Bishop  Kip. 
"The  Sacramental  Principle.— P.   B.   Bull,  C.   R. 


48  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

them.  They  were,  according  to  their  ideas,  unbaptized  and 
therefore  not  Christians ;  and  these  Baptists  were  consistent. 
The  modern,  Hberal  Baptist  who  will  not  have  his  children 
baptized,  and  yet  receives  the  Communion  from  a  Presby- 
terian or  a  Methodist  minister  he  does  not  consider  baptized, 
and  who  asks  these  to  his  Communion  table,  has  not  a  leg  to 
stand  on  in  support  of  his  position. 

In  baptizing  infants  the  Church  requires  the  same  vows 
as  of  adults,  and  these  must  be  made  by  sponsors  who  are  the 
child's  sureties.  As  the  state  provides  guardians  for  the 
infant's  person  and  property,  to  act  in  the  child's  name  and 
for  him  until  he  comes  of  age,  so  the  Church  provides 
guardians  of  his  spiritual  inheritance.  For  a  boy  two  god- 
fathers and  one  godmother,  and  for  a  girl  two  godmothers 
and  one  godfather  is  required,  when  they  can  be  had.  There 
must  be  at  least  one  sponsor.  One  of  the  English  poets 
describes  this  touching  rite — 

"In  due  lime 
A  day  of  solemn  ceremonial  comes ; 
When  they,  who  for  this  minor  hold  in  trust 
Rights  that  transcend  the  highest  heritage 
Of  mere  humanity,  present  their  charge 
At  the  baptismal  font.    And  when  the  pure 
And  consecrating  element  hath  cleansed 
The  original  stain,  the  child  is  there  received 
Into  the  second  ark,  Christ's  Church,  with  trust 
That  he,  from  wrath  redeemed,  therein  shall  float 
Over  the  billows  of  this  troublesome  world 
To  the  fair  and  everlasting  life."  '* 

Sponsors  must  of  course  be  Christians,  that  is,  they  must 
be  baptized  persons  and  believe  in  the  Holy  Trinity,  as  they 
represent  the  Church.  A  Canon  of  the  Church  of  England 
of  1603  required  them  to  be  communicants,  and  another 
Canon  of  the  same  time  prohibits  the  father  of  the  child  from 
being  a  sponsor.    The  mother  was  never  present,  as  the  child 

>*  Wordsworth's  Excursion,  Book  V. 


INFANT  MEMBERSHIP  49 

was  baptized  at  eight  days.  This  latter  Canon  was  repealed 
in  1865  by  the  Convocation  of  Canterbury,  but  it  was  not 
ratified  and  was  not  followed  by  a  corresponding  decision 
of  the  Convocation  of  York.^^  The  English  and  the  Ameri- 
can Churches,  however,  now  permit  parents  to  be  sponsors 
but  do  not  encourage  it.  It  is  not  desirable  for  the  reason 
that  the  Church  seeks  to  secure  as  full  a  guarantee  as  possible 
for  the  Christian  education  and  training  of  the  baptized. 
In  case  of  the  death  of  the  parents,  or  their  failure  to  teach 
the  child  his  Christian  obligations,  the  duty  falls  on  the 
godparents.  The  clergy  and  laity  have  not  been  as  care- 
ful as  the  Church  directs  in  selecting  sponsors,  the  choice  by 
the  laity  being  frequently  actuated  by  considerations  alto- 
gether apart  from  the  Christian  training  of  the  child.  "It 
might  matter  less,"  says  Dr.  Stone,  "who  the  sponsors, 
regarded  as  representatives  of  the  universal  Church,  indi- 
vidually are,  if  the  Church  herself,  in  the  present  and  in  the 
future,  as  in  the  past,  could  securely  provide  for  the  Chris- 
tian training  of  the  baptized."  But  the  clergy  should  be 
careful  to  see  the  sponsors  are  at  least  baptized  persons. 

The  du.ties  of  the  sponsors  are  to  see  that  the  child  is 
taught  "so  soon  as  he  shall  be  able  to  learn,  what  a  solemn 
vow,  promise,  and  profession  he  hath  made"  by  those  who  are 
his  sureties,  that  he  has  Christian  teaching  and  training,  and 
that  he  "be  brought  to  the  Bishop  to  be  confirmed  by  him, 
so  soon  as  he  can  say  the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the 
Ten  Commandments,  and  is  sufficiently  instructed  in  the 
other  parts  of  the  Church  Catechism  set  forth  for  that  pur- 
pose." To  this  the  sponsors  will  add  their  prayers  for 
the  child.  The  relation  of  sponsors  to  their  godchildren, 
formerly,  was  far  from  a  perfunctory  one.  The  godparents 
heard  or  taught  the  child  his  Catechism,  took  a  personal 
interest  in  him  and  his  religious  life,  and  the  tie  was  a  very 
close  one.    There  is  a  curious  idea  among  some  people  that 

"  Holy  Baptism.— Darwell  Stone. 


50  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

a  baptized  person  does  not  assume  his  baptismal  vows  until 
he  is  confirmed.  This  of  course  is  not  the  case.  He  assumes 
his  baptismal  vows  as  soon  as  he  comes  to  the  years  of 
discretion. 

When  a  child  is  born  into  the  world  he  becomes  a  member 
of  a  family,  with  a  certain  place  in  life  which  involves  certain 
responsibilities.  He  has  his  duty  to  his  parents  and  brothers 
and  sisters,  to  his  country  and  to  his  position  in  life.  He 
may  repudiate  all  these  obligations,  and  say  he  is  not  bound 
by  them  because  he  did  not  choose  them  himself ;  but  society 
does  not  hold  him  blameless  if  he  fails  to  fulfill  them.  When 
parents  take  the  great  responsibility  of  bringing  a  child  into 
the  world,  they  are  bound  to  do  all  they  can  for  his  welfare, 
and  to  give  him  every  aid  and  advantage  in  their  power. 
In  baptism  they  give  him  the  greatest  privilege  any  one  can 
have,  and  with  it  the  power  to  fulfill  the  obligations  involved. 
Many  of  our  Lord's  Parables  and  most  solemn  warnings  are 
directed  against  sins  of  omission.  He  has  no  blame  for  the 
man  who  tried  and  seemed  to  fail.  It  is  the  man  who  did 
not  use  his  talent,  the  virgins  who  neglected  to  fill  their  lamps 
with  oil,  those  who  did  not  visit  the  sick  and  feed  the  hungry, 
that  He  warned  would  receive  condemnation ;  and  parents 
who  fail  to  bring  their  children  to  baptism,  and  place  them 
"safe  in  the  arms  of  Jesus,"  assume  a  grave  responsibility. 


THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  SACRAMENT 
OF  MEMBERSHIP 

The  proper  minister  of  the  Sacrament  is  a  bishop  or  a 
priest,  but  in  some  circumstances  a  deacon,  and,  in  case  of 
grave  necessity,  any  man  or  woman  may  baptize.  A  man 
cannot  baptize  himself.  Dr.  Stone,  in  his  book  on  Holy 
Baptism,  says,  "To  sum  up,  then,  the  evidence  which  the 
New  Testament  supplies,  there  is  no  doubt  that  in  the  days 
of  the  Apostles  Baptism  was  the  means  of  entrance  into  the 
Christian  Church  for  Jews  and  Jewish  proselytes  and  Gen- 
tiles alike,  and  was  held  to  be  necessary  for  those  who  had 
received  the  baptism  of  St.  John  the  Baptist ;  that  the  persons 
who  administered  Baptism  included  a  deacon  and  those  wdio 
appear  to  have  been  Christian  laymen  ;^  that  in  the  case  of 
adults  some  profession  of  belief  was  required  from  those 
who  were  to  be  baptized;  and  that  in  the  administration  of 
the  Sacrament  water  was  used." 

Again,  he  says,  "in  the  mediaeval  rubrics  of  the  Church 
in  England  it  was  laid  down,  as  one  of  the  duties  of  parish 
priests,  that  they  should  frequently  on  Sundays  explain  to 
their  people  the  right  method  of  baptizing,  so  that  in  cases 
of  emergency  these  might  know  what  to  do ;  and  it  was 
further  directed,  'It  is  not  lawful  for  a  layman  or  woman  to 
baptize  any  one  except  in  a  case  of  necessity.'  "  "So  great 
was  the  importance  attached  to  the  reception  of  Baptism 
that,  in  Hooker's  words,  *Yea,  Baptism  by  any  man  in  case 
of  necessity'  was  the  voice  of  the  whole  world  heretofore."^ 

The  Eastern  Church  directs  its  priests  to  teach  their 
people,  men  and  women,  especially  women  who  may  be 

^  Ananias,  who  baptized  St.  Paul,  seems  to  have  been  a  layman. 
•  Holy  Baptism. — Darwell  Stoae. 

51 


52  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

present  at  births,  how  to  baptize  in  case  of  necessity,  and  it 
instructs  them  always  in  such  cases  to  give  the  parish  priest 
immediate  notice  of  the  baptism.  Christian  people  should 
be  prepared  and  know  how  to  baptize  in  case  of  necessity. 
All  that  is  needed  is  a  bowl  or  basin  of  pure  water.  Let  us 
suppose  the  family  name  to  be  Smith,  and  the  name  selected 
for  the  child,  John  Henry.  Have  some  one  hold  the  infant 
with  his  head  over  the  basin,  fill  the  hollow  of  the  hand 
vith  a  little  water,  and  say,  "John  Henry,  I  baptize  thee  in 
the  name  of  the  Father  (here  pour  water  on  the  child's  head, 
and  fill  the  hand  again),  and  of  the  Son  (pour  the  water  on 
again),  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost"  (pouring  the  water  on  the 
third  time).    That  is  all  that  is  required. 

The  proper  place  for  baptism  is  a  church,  but  in  case  of 
necessity  baptism  may  be  administered  in  a  private  house, 
or  indeed  anywhere.  The  rubric  in  the  service  for  the 
private  baptism  of  infants  says,  "The  Minister  of  every 
Parish  shall  often  admonish  the  People,  that  they  defer  not 
the  Baptism  of  their  Children  longer  than  the  first  or  second 
Sunday  next  after  their  birth,  or  other  Holy-day  falling 
between,  unless  upon  a  great  and  reasonable  cause.^  And 
also  he  shall  warn  them,  that  without  like  great  cause  and 
necessity,  they  procure  not  their  Children  to  be  baptized  at 
home  in  their  houses."  If  the  child  baptized  at  home  lives, 
the  Prayer  Book  directs  that  as  soon  as  convenient  it  is  ex- 
pedient the  child  be  brought  to  the  parish  church  to  be 
received  publicly  by  the  congregation.  The  obligations  of 
baptism  are  assumed  by  the  baptized  whether  or  not  the  vows 
are  made,  for  baptism  itself  is  our  profession.  If  an  adult 
baptized  when  very  ill  recovers,  he  is  in  duty  bound  to  be 
confirmed. 

The  dress  of  the  officiating  minister  is  a  cassock,  surplice 
and  stole.     A  violet  stole  is  used  until  after  the  vows  of 

3  This  admonition  is  not  merely  to  guard  against  infants  dying  unbai)tized, 
but  to  ensure  that  as  soon  as  possible  they  be  made  members  of  Christ  and 
enjoy  the  benefits  of  this  union. 


THE  ADJMINISTRATION  OF  MEMBERSHIP    53 

renunciation  and  then  a  white  stole  is  put  on  for  the  baptism 
and  the  rest  of  the  service.  A  stole  made  for  use  in  baptism 
is  violet  on  one  side  and  white  on  the  other,  and  is  turned 
just  before  the  baptism.  The  material  thing  employed  in 
the  administration  of  a  Sacrament  is  called  the  matter  and  is 
the  outward  and  visible  sign  of  the  inward  and  spiritual  grace 
bestowed.  In  baptism  the  matter  is  water,  an  effectual  sign 
of  the  washing  away  of  sin  and  a  new  birth  into  righteous- 
ness. From  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  at  any  rate, 
it  has  been  customary  for  the  water  to  be  blessed.  A  prayer 
of  blessing  is  given  in  the  service  in  our  Prayer  Book,  and 
making  the  sign  of  the  Cross  over  the  water  at  the  words 
"bless  and  sanctify"  is  usual.  St.  Augustine  is  the  earliest 
writer  to  mention  this  now  almost  universal  custom  in  the 
Church,  and  he  is  at  pains  to  point  out  that  the  validity  of 
the  Sacrament  is  independent  of  any  such  ceremony.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  signing  of  the  baptized  person  with 
the  Cross,  and  of  other  ceremonies.  They  should  be  highly 
esteemed  but  not  regarded  essential. 

The  method  of  applying  the  water  in  the  early  Church 
was  by  immersion,  affusion  (pouring)  and  even  sprinkling, 
the  water  being  applied  three  times  to  the  person.  In  the 
first  and  second  centuries,  immersion  seems  to  have  been 
the  ordinary  practice,  but  *'the  ancient  representations  of 
Baptism,  whether  of  that  which  our  Lord  received  from 
St.  John  the  Baptist  or  of  the  Christian  Sacrament,  depict 
it  as  administered  by  affusion."^  The  ordinary  practice  in 
the  Eastern  Church  in  the  baptism  of  infants  and  adults  is 
threefold  immersion,  but  in  the  West  since  the  fourteenth 
century  the  ordinary  practice  has  been  threefold  affusion. 
The  rubric  in  our  Prayer  Book  directs  the  officiating  minister 
to  dip  the  infant  or  adult,  or  to  pour  water  on  him.  Sprink- 
ling is  not  allowed,  although  ''all  Western  theologians  agree 
that  if  water  is  made  to  flow  upon  the  head  of  the  baptized 
person  the  baptism  is  vahd."* 

•-♦  Holy   Baptism. — Darwell    Stone. 


54  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

The  form  for  this  Sacrament  are  the  words  "In  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  In 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  we  notice  on  several  occasions 
persons  are  said  to  have  been  baptized  "into  the  Name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ."  This  probably  means  by  their  baptism 
into  the  Triune  Name  of  God  revealed  by  our  Lord,  they 
were,  as  we  say,  made  members  of  Christ.  Our  Lord's 
words  are  clear,  and  the  baptismal  formula  used  by  the 
Church  has  always  been  the  words  He  gave  to  His  Apostles. 

"If  they  who  bring  the  infant  to  the  Church  do  make  such 
uncertain  answers  to  the  Minister's  questions,  as  that  it 
cannot  appear  that  the  child  was  baptized  with  Water,  in  the 
Name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
(which  are  essential  parts  of  baptism),  then  let  the  Minister 
baptize  it  in  the  Form  before  appointed  for  Public  Baptism 
of  Infants;  saving  that  at  the  dipping  of  the  child  in  the 
Font,  he  shall  use  this  Form  of  words:  *If  thou  art  not 
already  baptized  (John  Henry),  I  baptize  thee  In  the  Name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.'  "^ 
This  is  called  conditional  baptism.  Baptism  is  of  such 
vital  importance  that  the  Church  directs  again  in  the  service 
for  those  of  Riper  Years  that  if  there  be  reasonable  doubt 
concerning  the  baptism  of  any  person,  the  form  for  con- 
ditional baptism  shall  be  used. 

There  are  sects  who  baptize  without  water,  and  others 
who  do  not  use  the  baptismal  formula  but  use  the  words  "I 
baptize  thee  in  the  Name  of  the  Trinity,"  or  "in  the  Name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  This,  of  course,  is  not  Christian 
baptism.  The  writer  knew  a  man  who  had  been  baptized 
in  infancy  by  a  Presbyterian  minister,  and,  when  he  grew 
up,  was  confirmed  and  became  a  devout  communicant 
of  the  Church.  After  some  years  as  he  learned  to  value  the 
Sacraments,  he  became  worried  about  his  baptism.  His 
parents  and  the  minister  who  had  baptized  him  were  dead, 

»  Rubric  in  Baptismal  Service. 


THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  MEMBERSHIP    55 

so  he  could  find  out  nothing  about  it.  One  day  when  his 
rector,  one  of  the  Cowley  Fathers,  came  to  see  him  he  told 
him  what  was  troubling  him.  "You  need  worry  no  more," 
said  the  Father,  and  sending  for  a  bowl  of  water,  bidding 
the  man  stand  up,  and  taking  him  by  the  right  hand -as 
directed  in  the  Prayer  Book,  he  baptized  him  conditionally, 
to  his  great  comfort  and  happiness. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Church  when  adult  baptism  was 
the  rule,  not  the  exception,  as  in  Christian  lands  to-day,  the 
ceremony  was  a  very  impressive  one,  which  took  place  at 
stated  times  during  the  year,  Easter  Even  and  the  Eve  of 
Whitsunday  being  the  most  important.  The  preparation 
of  the  catechumens  ended  with  confession  to  a  priest,  no 
absolution  of  course  being  given  them ;  that  was  not  possible, 
and  would  be  given  later  by  baptism.  At  the  time  of  the 
baptism  the  catechumens  gathered  about  the  font,  and  turn- 
ing to  the  west  and  the  setting  sun,  made  their  vows  of 
renunciation,  then  turning  to  the  east  they  recited  the  creed. 
No  longer  would  they  serve  and  follow  the  world,  the  flesh 
and  the  devil.  They  accepted  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Master ; 
to  Him  they  swore  allegiance,  and  Him  would  they  follow 
to  their  life's  end.  "As  far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west,  so 
far  hath  He  removed  our  transgressions  from  us."  The  turn- 
ing around  symbolized  conversion.  Confirmation  followed 
immediately,  and  the  baptized  were  soon  after  admitted  to 
the  great  privilege  of  offering  the  Holy  Sacrifice  and  receiv- 
ing the  Holy  Communion  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ. 

To  sum  up — for  vaHd  baptism  water,  the  application  of 
the  water  to  the  person,  and  the  form  of  words  given  by  our 
Lord  are  requisite.  The  consent  of  the  person  to  be  baptized 
is  also  held  to  be  necessary.  There  must  be  no  opposition 
of  the  will.  An  unconscious  infant  or  an  unconscious  adult 
who  has  expressed  a  desire  for  baptism  may  be  baptized, 
but  baptism  forced  upon  any  one,  or  given  in  play,  would 
not  be  valid.    In  the  case  of  infants  the  consent  is  given  by 


56  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

the  sponsors.  By  valid  we  mean  ratified.  A  valid  Sacrament 
is  a  Sacrament  authorized  and  guaranteed  by  the  Church 
which  is  the  Body  of  Christ  in-dwelt  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
speaks  for  Him.  The  Church  assures  and  guarantees  that 
if  the  conditions  required  by  the  Church  for  Christian 
baptism  are  fulfilled,  the  person  baptized  is  regenerate. 
When  we  say  baptism  is  irregular  we  mean  it  is  not  done  in 
the  regular  order  appointed  by  the  Church.  Baptism  by  a 
layman  is  irregular  but  is  true  and  valid  because  it  is 
authorized  and  guaranteed  by  the  Catholic  Church. 

But  while  the  baptismal  formula  is  all  that  is  required  for 
valid  baptism,  the  Catholic  Church  has  always  provided  a 
ritual  for  the  administration  of  the  Sacrament,  to  safeguard 
the  teaching  and  the  gifts  of  baptism."  The  "views"  of  the 
priest  who  administers  it  make  no  difference ;  he  speaks  not 
for  himself,  and  the  sponsors  and  the  congregation  "hear 
the  Church."  So  important  is  this  regarded  that  the  Prayer 
Book  directs  that  a  child  baptized  when  ill  in  private,  with 
the  baptismal  formula,  shall  be  brought  to  the  church,  if  he 
recovers,  to  publicly  make  his  vows  and  be  received  by  the 
congregation.  In  the  case  of  an  adult,  confirmation  follows 
as  soon  as  possible,  and  the  vows  are  then  publicly  acknowl- 
edged. 

At  the  time  of  the  Reformation  the  Church  of  England 
revised  and  greatly  simplified  the  Baptismal  Offices,  but  as 
Dr.  Stone  says,  "In  spite  of  strong  pressure  from  determined 
opponents  of  the  truth,  the  Church  in  England,  both  in  the 
sixteenth  and  in  the  seventeenth  century,  was  careful  to 
maintain  the  doctrine  of  Baptism  which,  as  enshrined  in 
Scripture  and  taught  by  the  Universal  Church,  may  rightly 
be  called  Catholic.  It  might  well  be  anticipated  that  in  the 
Orders  for  the  Ministration  of  Baptism  there  would  be  a 
very  full  and  clear  indication  of  the  mind  of  the  Church 

•  Ritual  and  ceremonial  mean  different  things.  TIj|£  rite  or  ritual  of  baptism 
is  the  Baptismal  Service;  the  ceremonial  is  the  forW  with  which  it  is  accom- 
panied. 


THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  MEMBERSHIP    57 

in  England  on  this  subject.  In  them  the  Catholic  teaching 
referred  to  is  again  and  again  affirmed  or  implied.  *  *  * 
In  no  place  is  there  any  indication  that  this  language,  or  any 
part  of  it,  is  of  an  hypothetical  character  or  is  to  be  figur- 
atively explained."  ^ 

"Our  Mother,  the  Church,  hath  never  a  child 

To  honor  before  the  rest, 
And  she  singeth  the  same  for  mighty  kings, 

And  the  veriest  babe  on  her  breast ; 
And  the  Bishop  goes  down  to  his  narrow  bed 

As  the  ploughman's  child  is  laid, 
And  alike  she  blesseth  the  dark-brow'd  serf, 

And  the  chief  in  his  robe  arrayed. 
She  sprinkles  the  drops  of  the  bright  new-birth, 

The  same  on  the  low  and  high, 
And  christens  their  bodies  with  dust  to  dust, 

When  earth  with  its  earth  must  lie; 
Oh,  the  poor  man's  friend  is  the  Church  of  Christ, 

From  his  birth  to  his  funeral  day; 
She  makes  him  the  Lord's,  in  her  surpliced  arms, 

And  singeth  his  burial  lay." 

— A.  Cleveland  Coxe 

''  Holy  Baptism. — Darwell  Stone. 


THE  COMPLETION  OF  MEMBERSHIP 

CONFIRMATION 

Confirmation  is  the  completion  of  baptism.  The  minister 
of  the  Sacrament  is  a  bishop,  and  in  the  first  days  of  the 
Church,  Confirmation  followed  immediately  upon  baptism, 
or  as  soon  after  as  possible/  The  difficulty  of  obtaining  a 
bishop  for  every  baptism  led  to  the  separation  of  the  serv- 
ices, and  in  the  West,  in  the  case  of  infants,  Confirmation 
came  gradually  to  be  postponed  until  the  child  could  be 
instructed  in  the  Christian  Faith.  In  the  East  this  separa- 
tion was  not  countenanced,  and  the  difficulty  was  met  by 
using  oil  blessed  by  a  bishop,  called  chrism,  to  convey  the 
gifts  and  grace  of  Confirmation,  as  in  the  days  of  perse- 
cution the  Holy  Communion  consecrated  by  a  priest  was 
carried  by  deacons,  and  even  laymen,  to  those  unable  to 
attend  the  service.  The  East  holds  with  the  West  that  a 
bishop  is  the  minister  of  the  Sacrament.  In  the  West  the 
Roman  and  Anglican  Churches  have  continued  the  Apostolic 
practice  of  the  laying  on  of  hands  by  a  bishop  to  convey 
the  grace  of  Confirmation.^  The  Roman  Church  also  uses 
chrism  as  it  does  in  baptism,  but  this  is  not  essential.^ 

"The  title  Confirmation  is  derived  from  its  efifect  in 
strengthening  the  soul  by  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  In 
Holy  Scripture  it  is  also  called  the  'Seal  of  the  Lord,'  from 
the  fact  that  it  conveys  a  special  character;  and  it  is  de- 
scribed as  one  of  the  four  principles  of  the  doctrine  of 

1  Acts  19:5-7.  »  Acts  8:14-17.        »  The  Religion  of  the  Church.— C.  Gore. 

58 


THE  COMPLETION  OF  MEMBERSHIP        59 

Christ  under  the  name  of  'the  laying  on  of  hands.'  "  *  The 
effect  of  Confirmation,  then,  is  to  convey  grace  and  character. 
In  Confirmation  we  receive  something;  we  come  to  be  con- 
firmed not  to  confirm  something.  The  renewal  of  baptismal 
vows  is  not  part  of  Confirmation.  It  is  an  appropriate  but 
modern  addition  to  the  service.  The  renewal  of  these  vows 
may  be  made  at  any  time.  In  some  parishes  this  is  an  annual 
custom,  New  Year's  Eve  being  the  time  usually  chosen,  and 
during  a  parochial  Mission  these  renewals  are  generally  so 
made ;  but  this  is  not  Confirmation.  Confirmation  conveys 
character,  that  is,  it  stamps  an  indelible  mark  upon  the  soul, 
and  it  cannot  therefore  be  repeated.  Of  course,  Confirmation 
is  a  profession  of  faith  in  the  sense  that  saying  the  creed, 
praying,  and  making  our  Communions  are  professions  of 
faith  and  a  promise  to  serve  God,  but  it  is  not  joining  the 
Church  or  taking  the  vows  of  the  Christian  life.  We  did 
that  in  baptism.  If  we  do  not  mean  or  desire  to  keep  these 
vows  we  ought  not  to  ask  for  more  grace ;  but  if  we  desire 
to  keep  them,  we  should  acknowledge  this  obligation,  and 
complete  our  baptism  with  Confirmation  which  entitles  us 
to  all  the  privileges  of  Church  membership.  Some  people 
who  do  not  understand  what  Confirmation  is,  object  to  being 
confirmed  by  a  bishop  if  they  have  already  made  such  a 
public  profession ;  but  when  they  understand,  they  say,  not 
must  I,  but  may  I  be  confirmed. 

Baptized  persons  of  any  age  may  be  subjects  for  Confir- 
mation. In  the  East  infants  are  confirmed  immediately  after 
baptism.  In  the  West  the  age  has  come  to  be  about  twelve 
years,  the  age  our  Lord  and  all  Jewish  boys  were  admitted 
to  the  privileges  of  membership  in  the  Jewish  Church. 
At  this  age  children  pass  from  childhood  into  manhood 
and  womanhood,  and  go  more  into  the  world,  perhaps 
go  away  to  school,  and  need  the  grace  and  strength  of  Con- 
firmation.   The  rubric  in  the  Prayer  Book  seems  to  indicate 

♦Heb.  6:1-2. 


60  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

an  earlier  age  than  the  customary  age  of  twelve  years,  and 
recently  in  the  Roman  Church  the  Pope  ordered  that 
children  be  prepared  for  Confirmation  and  Communion  at 
seven  or  eight  years  of  age.  There  is  quite  a  movement 
among  us  to  do  likewise,  and  if  the  clergy  would  teach  and 
be  more  faithful  in  personal  work  among  the  children,  Con- 
firmation before  twelve  years  of  age  might  well  become  the 
rule.  In  some  parishes  there  are  communicant  classes  once 
a  month,  which  the  children  who  are  to  make  their  Commu- 
nion next  day  are  expected  to  attend.  If  something  of  this 
kind  were  general,  a  return  to  the  age  for  Confirmation 
when  a  child  could  say  the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and 
the  Ten  Commandments,  and  was  sufficiently  instructed  in 
the  other  parts  of  the  Church  Catechism,  would  be  desirable. 
In  any  case,  with  a  normal  child  Confirmation  should  not  be 
deferred  later  than  twelve  years.  Many  of  the  Church's 
children  go  into  the  world  unarmed  for  the  fight,  and  lost 
to  their  Mother  because  they  were  not  taught  their  bap- 
tismal obligations  and  privileges  before  they  went  out  to 
work  or  to  school.  These  things  are  being  told  us  by  our 
army  chaplains. 

Unbaptized  persons  are  of  course  incapable  of  receiving 
any  Sacrament  but  baptism.  To  confirm  or  give  the  Holy 
Communion  to  unbaptized  persons  would  be  like  giving  food 
to  a  dead  body.  For  this  reason  it  is  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance that  priests  in  preparing  persons  for  Confirmation 
inquire  carefully,  as  directed  in  the  Prayer  Book,  regarding 
their  baptism.  "If  the  child  were  baptized  by  any  other 
lawful  Minister,  then  the  Minister  of  the  parish  where  the 
child  was  born  or  christened,  shall  examine  whether  the 
same  was  lawfully  done,"  says  the  rubric,  and  if  uncertain 
answers  are  given,  the  person  should  receive  conditional 
baptism.  This  is  usually  done  from  a  bowl  in  the  sacristy 
when  giving  the  personal  preparation  that  each  candidate 
for  Confirmation  receives. 


THE  COMPLETION  OF  MEMBERSHIP       61 

Confirmation  is  not  regarded  in  the  Western  Church  as 
one  of  the  Sacraments  generally  necessary  to  salvation,  for 
it  cannot  always  be  had,  but  that  it  is  considered  of  great 
importance  may  be  seen  by  the  references  to  it  in  our  Prayer 
Book.  When  an  infant  is  baptized  the  priest  says  to  the 
Godparents,  "Ye  are  to  take  care  that  this  child  be  brought 
to  the  Bishop,"  not  to  confirm  his  baptismal  vows,  but  "to  be 
confirmed  by  him,  so  soon  as  he  can  say  the  Creed,  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  is  sufficiently  in- 
structed in  the  other  parts  of  the  Church  Catechism  set 
forth  for  the  purpose" ;  and  again,  at  the  end  of  the  Confir- 
mation Office,  a  rubric  says  "There  shall  none  be  admitted 
to  the  Holy  Communion,  until  such  time  as  he  be  confirmed, 
or  be  ready  (prepared)  and  desirous  to  be  confirmed." 

It  has  been  suggested  by  those  who  think  Confirmation  is 
confirming  baptismal  vows,  joining  the  Church  or  making 
a  pubHc  profession  of  faith,  and  even  by  some  who  ought 
to  know  better,  that  this  rubric  regarding  Confirmation  only 
applies  to  children  brought  up  in  the  Church.  The  reason 
given  for  this  view  is  that,  as  the  rubric  was  inserted  first 
in  the  first  English  Prayer  Book  of  Edward  VI  in  1549,  at 
that  time  there  being  no  sectarians,  it  could  not  be  in- 
tended to  apply  to  such  a  case.  They  fail,  however,  to  notice 
that  in  the  last  revision  of  the  Prayer  Book  in  1662,  when 
the  Church  of  England  was  more  harassed  by  sectarians 
than  at  any  other  time  in  her  existence,  that  is,  after  the 
Cromwellian  period,  the  Church  did  not  merely  leave  that 
rubric  (which  might  have  been  construed  into  an  oversight) 
but  added  the  words  "or  be  ready  and  desirous  to  be  con- 
firmed," which  evidently  was  intended  to  cover  cases,  espe- 
cially in  the  Colonies,  where  bishops  could  not  be  obtained 
for  Confirmation.  There  are  some  who  try  to  get  around 
the  plain  English  of  the  rubric  by  saying,  "admit  to  the 
Holy  Communion"  means  putting  one  on  the  list  of  com- 
municants, but  the  words  do  not  technically  mean  this. 
5 


62  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

Some  of  our  clergy,  it  is  true,  do  not  enforce  this  rubric, 
but  it  would  be  a  very  different  matter  for  the  Church  to 
fall  out  of  line  with  Catholic  Christendom  and  strike  it  out 
or  suspend  it.  For  full  membership  in  the  Catholic  Church 
and  the  enjoyment  of  all  its  privileges,  Confirmation,  or  the 
desire  to  receive  it,  is  requisite,  as  Bishop  Gore  has  lately 
said.  It  is  no  more  narrow  for  the  Church  to  make  this 
requirement,  than  it  is  for  the  Masonic  Order  to  make 
obedience  to  the  requirements  of  their  Order  obligatory  on 
those  who  desire  the  privileges  of  membership.  If  Con- 
firmation is  what  the  Church  and  the  New  Testament  declare 
it  to  be,  the  completion  of  baptism,  the  conveying  of  char- 
acter, the  receiving  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  greater  measure 
and  with  special  gifts,  and  a  preparation  for  the  Holy  Com- 
munion, then  it  is  for  every  one,  and  those  who  have  it  not 
are  the  poorer. 

In  the  Roman  Church  children  are  frequently  communi- 
cants for  several  years  before  they  are  confirmed.  This  is 
admitted  even  by  Roman  Catholics  not  to  be  the  proper 
order,  but  it  shows  that  being  a  communicant  does  not  do 
away  with  the  necessity  for  Confirmation.  In  the  early  days 
of  this  country  when  there  were  no  bishops,  or  few  of  them, 
many  persons  who  had  been  communicants  for  years  were 
confirmed  when  very  old.  They  had  not  had  the  opportunity 
before.  A  baptized  person  very  ill  or  going  into  battle  would 
be  given  the  Holy  Communion,  but  if  he  lived  should  be 
confirmed.  It  is  pride,  not  intellectual  difificulties,  that 
makes  people  unwilling  to  come  to  Confirmation,  and  pride 
is  not  a  proper  disposition  for  receiving  tlje  Holy  Commun- 
ion. To  set  one's  own  opinion  against  that  of  the  Catholic 
Church  is  a  very  serious  matter.  To  such  a  one  we  would 
say,  Do  you  believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  as  you 
solemnly  profess  to  do  when  you  say  the  Creed?  If  you 
do,  then  hear  the  Church,  and  obey. 


THE  COMPLETION  OF  MEMBERSHIP        63 

The  baptized  are  a  royal  priesthood,  and  Confirmation  is 
rightly  called  the  ordination  of  the  laity,  and  in  preparation 
for  it  adults  as  well  as  children  receive  careful  instruction 
in  the  Faith  and  practices  of  the  Church,  and  moral  and 
spiritual  preparation  for  the  great  event.  In  some  parishes 
the  instruction  for  children  covers  three  seasons,  two  before 
and  one  after  Confirmation.  While  no  vows  are  taken  in 
Confirmation,  all  the  vows  of  the  Christian  life  having  been 
taken  at  baptism,  faith  and  repentance  are  requisite  for  a 
beneficial  reception  of  this  as  of  all  Sacraments.  Confir- 
mation received  with  a  right  disposition  enables  the  baptized 
Christian  to  fulfill  his  baptismal  vows,  and  admits  him  to 
the  greatest  privilege  of  the  Christian  life,  the  ofifering  of 
the  Holy  Sacrifice  and  the  receiving  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ.  It  is  an  ancient 
custom  for  those  who  have  been  confirmed  to  make  their 
first  Communion  on  the  first  great  festival  following  their 
Confirmation.  In  Lent  this  would  be  Easter  Day,  and  after 
Lent  Ascension  Day  or  Whitsunday.  In  the  long  Trinity 
season  with  no  great  festival  near,  the  Rector  would  fix  a 
Sunday  soon  after  the  Confirmation  for  the  first  Communion 
of  the  newly  confirmed.  The  instructions  continue  until 
after  the  first  Communion,  and  after  Confirmation  are  more 
particularly  instructions  on  the  Sacrament  X)f  the  Altar,  its 
meaning,  its  ritual  and  ceremonial,  and  careful  instruction 
how  to  receive  the  Holy  Communion.  To  avoid  being  in 
Church  with  uncovered  heads  the  custom  of  wearing  white 
lawn  veils,  or  little  caps,  at  Confirmation  arose.  It  is  strange 
that  those  who  make  no  objection  to  wedding  veils  should 
object  to  veils  at  Confirmation,  and  it  is  unfortunate  that 
some  people  in  this  country  associate  the  custom  with  a 
Church  party  to  which  it  does  not  belong. 

The  veil  is  put  a  little  back  on  the  head  that  the  part  of  tlie  head  on  which 
the  Bishop  lays  his  hands  may  be  uncovered. 


64  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

Fr.  Bull  says,  "When  each  child  learns  that  at  Confir- 
mation he  is  anointed  and  ordained  as  a  priest  of  God  he 
will  realize  that  he  is  as  much  bound  to  assist  at  the  Holy 
Sacrifice  on  Sundays  and  Holy  Days  of  obligation  as  the 
priest  who  stands  at  the  altar.  And  as  he  tries  to  realize 
his  priesthood  in  prayer  and  worship  and  intercession,  and 
in  manifesting  to  the  world  a  life  of  entire  consecration  to 
the  service  of  God,  the  palsied  limbs  of  our  Church  will 
tingle  with  the  quickening  life  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  every 
member  responds  to  His  kindling  flame." 


REQUIREMENTS  FOR  MEMBERSHIP 

REPENTANCE 

Question.    What  is  required  of  persons  to  be  baptized? 

Answer.  Repentance,  whereby  they  forsake  sin;  and  Faitli, 
whereby  they  steadfastly  believe  the  promises  of  God  made  to  them 
in  that  Sacrament. 

Question.  Why  then  are  Infants  baptized,  when  by  reason  of  their 
tender  age  they  cannot  perform  them? 

Answer.  Because  they  promise  them  both  by  their  Sureties;  which 
promise,  when  they  come  to  age.  themselves  are  bound  to  perform. — 
The  Catechism,  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

It  may  have  surprised  some  that  repentance  and  faith 
were  not  mentioned  as  necessary  to  vaHd  baptism.  They 
err,  however,  who  infer  from  this  that  such  dispositions  are 
unimportant.  On  the  contrary,  the  Church  requires  repent- 
ance and  faith  of  those  who  com.e  to  be  baptized,  for  these 
are  necessary  to  a  beneficial  reception  of  the  Sacrament. 
For  example,  if  a  very  ill  man,  to  please  his  wife,  consented 
to  be  baptized,  and  was  baptized  without  faith  or  penitence, 
he  would  receive  the  Christian  character  by  this  new  birth, 
and  potentially  its  other  peculiar  gifts,  but  he  would  be 
unable  to  appropriate  these  until  by  faith  and  repentance 
he  removed  the  obstacles  to  their  operation.  He  would  not 
and  could  not  be  re-baptized. 

On  the  part  of  infants,  repentance  and  faith  are  pledged 
by  sponsors,  who  act  as  sureties  for  the  child.  When  those 
of  riper  years,  and  able  to  answer  for  themselves,  ask  for 
Christian  baptism,  the  Prayer  Book  directs  (except  in  an 
emergency  such  as  a  very  ill  person)  that  "timely  notice  shall 
be  given  to  the  minister,"  that  they  may  have  careful  instruc- 

65 


66  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

tion  and  preparation,  intellectual  and  spiritual,  for  the  great 
event,  and  that  they  "be  exhorted  to  prepare  themselves,  with 
prayers  and  fasting,  for  the  receiving  of  this  holy  Sacra- 
ment." 

Every  Church  member  began  his  or  her  Christian  life  v^ith 
repentance  and  faith,  and  the  Church  is  constantly  reminding 
her  children  that  they  must  continue  in  this  way  unto  their 
life's  end  if  they  would  enter  into  their  heavenly  inheri- 
tance, and  attain  "to  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the 
fullness  of  Christ."  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  then, 
that  we  know  what  the  Church  means  by  repentance  and 
faith,  and  learn  to  distinguish  between  the  true  and  the 
false,  for  "Godly  sorrow  worketh  repentance  unto  salvation 
not  to  be  repented  of ;  but  the  sorrow  of  the  world  worketh 
death."  * 

The  word  repentance  means  a  change  of  mind,  and  in  the 
Parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  our  Lord  gives  us  a  picture  of 
true  repentance.'  The  words  are  very  striking — ''And  zvhen 
he  came  to  himself,  he  said.  How  many  hired  servants  of  my 
father's  have  bread  enough  and  to  spare,  and  I  perish  with 
hunger !"  What  a  fool  he  had  been !  With  his  money,  his 
brains,  his  position  and  his  opportunities,  he  was  not  as  well 
off  as  his  father's  servants.  He  had  done  just  what  he 
pleased  but  it  had  not  made  him  happy.  He  had  not  started 
out  to  live  an  evil  life.  He  had  just  drifted  on  in  a  life  of 
pleasure  and  self-indulgence,  giving  up  gradually  good  habits 
and  restraints,  and  as  this  life  failed  to  satisfy,  and  troubles 
increased,  he  had  plunged  deeper  and  deeper  into  excitement 
to  silence  his  conscience,  and  forget  his  troubles  in  riotous 
living  and  it  had  brought  him  to  ruin.  He  had  been  crazy, 
but  it  was  his  own  fault.  He  was  himself  again  and  saw 
it  all,  and  no  one  was  to  blame  but  himself.  The  Holy 
Spirit  can  again  work  and  be  heard,  and  He  is  convincing 
the  man  of  sin,  of  righteousness  and  of  judgment. 

iSt.  Luke  15:11-32. 
*  II  Cor.  7:10. 


REQUIREMENTS  FOR  MEMBERSHIP         67 

Up  to  this  time  he  had  been  thinking  only  of  himself,  but 
now  memories  of  home  begin  to  revive,  and  softer  feelings 
stir  within  him.  He  thinks  of  the  father  he  has  wronged. 
How  good  he  had  been  to  him,  and  how  he  had  grieved  and 
disgraced  him.  ''I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father."  The  will 
is  working ;  the  man  is  no  longer  a  slave ;  he  is  master  of 
himself ;  he  can  not  only  see  what  is  right  but  do  it,  hard 
though  it  be.  Repentance  is  an  act  of  the  will,  not  an  emo- 
tion. It  is  sometimes  accompanied  by  emotion  but  not 
always.  "I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father,  and  will  say  unto 
him,  Father,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven,  and  before  thee, 
and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son :  make  me  as 
one  of  thy  hired  servants."  Here  is  true  penitence.  There 
is  no  thought  of  self ;  it  is  of  his  father  he  is  thinking,  of  his 
sin  against  him  and  against  God.  He  will  go  back,  acknowl- 
edge his  sin,  and  take  his  punishment.  He  will  not  ask  to  be 
received  as  a  son  but  as  a  slave.  Then  he  arose  and  went. 
The  good  resolution  was  put  into  action.  He  turned  his 
back  on  his  old  life,  and  turned  his  face  towards  his  father's 
house.    That  is  conversion. 

Many  a  day,  we  may  believe,  the  father  had  sat  at  his 
door  looking  up  the  road,  hoping  his  son  might  pass  by. 
*'But  when  he  was  yet  a  great  way  off,  his  father  saw  him, 
and  had  compassion,"  and  ran  out  to  meet  him.  How  he  had 
longed  and  prayed  for  this  day !  Then  he  "fell  on  his  neck, 
and  kissed  him,"  and  the  son  sobbed  out  his  broken-hearted 
confession — "Father,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven,  and  in 
thy  sight,  and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son" — but 
he  got  no  further,  for  the  father  "said  to  his  servants,  Bring 
forth  the  best  robe,  and  put  it  on  him,"  or  more  correctly 
the  former  robe,  the  robe  he  wore  of  old  in  his  father's 
house,  kept  for  him  and  now  restored,  "and  put  the  ring,"  the 
family  seal,  "on  his  hand,  and  shoes  on  his  feet."  These 
are  not  the  things  worn  by  a  slave.  "And  bring  hither  the 
fatted  calf,  and  kill  it ;  and  let  us  eat,  and  be  merry.    For  this 


68  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

my  son  was  dead,  and  is  alive  again ;  he  was  lost,  and  is 
found.  And  they  began  to  be  merry."  He  had  come  to  take 
a  slave's  place,  and  had  been  received  as  a  son.  His  realiza- 
tion and  acknowledgment  of  unworthiness  made  him  worthy. 
He  had  been  given  the  kiss  of  reconciliation  and  peace  (in 
the  East  the  kiss  signifies  this),  his  place  and  position  in  the 
family  had  been  restored  to  him,  and  he  was  again  at  the 
family  table. 

The  story  goes  on  to  tell  of  the  anger  of  his  elder  brother, 
who  says  to  his  Father,  Thou  never  gavest  me  even  a  kid 
"that  I  might  make  merry  with  my  friends:  but  as  soon  as 
this  thy  son"  (he  would  not  say  my  brother)  "was  come,  which 
hath  devoured  thy  living  with  harlots,  thou  hast  killed  for 
him  the  fatted  calf."  The  father  answered,  ''Son,  thou  art 
ever  with  me,  and  all  that  I  have  is  thine.  It  was  meet  that 
we  should  make  merry,  and  be  glad;  for  this  thy  brother 
was  dead,  and  is  alive  again;  and  was  lost,  and  is  found." 
The  story  ends  here  but  we  can  see  that  life  is  not  going  to 
be  easy  for  the  Prodigal.  The  restraints  of  home  life  and 
the  dull  routine  will  be  hard  to  bear  after  the  life  of  excite- 
ment and  self-indulgence  he  has  led,  and  within  him  evil 
tendencies  and  passions,  the  harvest  of  the  wild  oats  he  has 
sown,  will  be  constantly  trying  to  pull  him  down  and  back 
to  the  old  life.  Then  too,  he  will  have  to  bear  the  contempt 
of  his  elder  brother  and  the  sneers  of  the  servants.  Let  no 
one  begrudge  the  Prodigal  the  joy  of  his  welcome  home. 
He  needs  it  to  carry  him  through  the  hard  days  ahead  of 
him,  and  to  help  him  to  persevere. 

We  have  failed  to  understand  the  parable  unless  we  have 
seen  that  the  sin  of  the  Prodigal  was  his  desire  to  be  inde- 
pendent of  his  father.  That  is  the  essence  of  all  sin.  He 
wanted  to  lead  his  own  life,  to  be  free  from  restraint  and 
responsibihty,  and  he  represents  all  who  have  left  their 
heavenly  Father's  house  to  be  independent,  acknowledging 
no  duty  to  Him.    They  may  not  spend  their  days  in  riotous 


REQUIREMENTS  FOR  MEMBERSHIP         69 

living  or  sensual  pleasures,  indeed  they  may  be  quite  respect- 
able, but  they  will  do  only  what  they  choose,  not  what  God 
asks.  The  Prodigal  started  out  to  be  independent  and  ended 
a  slave,  a  slave  to  his  own  passions  and  to  the  man  whose 
swine  he  kept.  When  men  will  not  heed  God's  gentler 
warnings  He  sends  them  in  love  sharper  ones.  Loss  of 
fortune,  illness,  death  of  a  loved  one,  or  other  trouble,  may 
bring  a  man  to  himself  and  make  him  stop  and  think.  Happy 
he  who  heeds  the  warning,  and  goes  back  humbly  and  peni- 
tently to  his  Father. 

The  parable  shows  us  that  true  repentance  consists  in 
contrition,  confession,  and  satisfaction  or  amendment.  True 
contrition  is  not  sorrow  for  having  to  endure  the  penalty  of 
wrong-doing,  but  godly  sorrow  that  springs  from  love,  and 
from  having  sinned  against  our  heavenly  Father.  It  leads, 
must  lead,  to  confession ;  a  square  acknowledgment 
without  excuse  or  self  pity  to  ourselves  and  to  God,  and  if 
we  have  wronged  our  neighbor,  to  him  also,  of  our  sin.  If 
we  have  wronged  any  one  and  can  make  amends  or  resti- 
tution, we  must  do  so,  but  the  Prodigal  cannot  restore  the 
fortune  he  has  squandered  or  the  years  he  has  wasted.  The 
only  satisfaction  he  can  make  is  to  bear  humbly  and  patiently 
the  penalty  of  his  sins,  and  strive  by  devotion  to  his  father 
to  show  his  love  and  his  sorrow  for  his  wrongdoing.  The 
real  deep  sorrow  did  not  come  to  him  until  he  had  made  his 
confession  and  had  been  forgiven.  He  began  with  an 
acknowledgment  to  himself  of  wrongdoing,  and  a  desire  to 
tell  his  father,  and  take  his  punishment. 

There  is  no  true  repentance  without  amendment  of  life. 
The  old  rhyme  says : 

"Repentance  is  to  leave, 
The  sins  we  loved  before, 
And  show  that  we  sincerely  grieve, 
By  doing  so  no  more." 


70  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

But  this  is  not  all.  Repentance  is  not  only  giving  up  wrong- 
doing and  avoiding  temptation ;  it  is  also  doing  what  is  right. 

It  should  be  noted  that  it  was  the  servants  who  put  his 
former  robe  on  the  Prodigal,  and  gave  him  the  ring  and  the 
shoes,  the  symbols  of  his  restoration.  So  while  God  only 
can  forgive  sins.  He  conveys  His  forgiveness  to  us  in  baptism 
and  in  penance  through  His  servants  who  are  His  ambas- 
sadors. After  His  resurrection  He  said  to  His  Apostles, 
"As  My  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you.  And  when 
He  had  said  this,  He  breathed  on  them,  and  saith  unto  them. 
Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost:  Whose  soever  sins  ye  remit, 
they  are  remitted  unto  them ;  and  whose  soever  sins  ye  retain, 
they  are  retained."  -  These  words  are  said  to  priests  when 
they  are  ordained,  and  every  day  the  Church  reminds  us  that 
God  "hath  given  power,  and  commandment,  to  His  ministers, 
to  declare  and  pronounce  to  His  people,  being  penitent,  the 
absolution  and  remission  of  their  sins."  In  the  exhortation 
in  the  service  of  the  Holy  Communion  and  in  the  Office  of 
the  Visitation  of  the  Sick,  we  are  again  reminded  of  this 
power  in  the  Church. 

Baptism  cleanses  us  from  original  sin  and  in  the  case  of 
adults  from  actual  sin  as  well,  but  this  mystical  washing  can 
be  but  once,  for  it  conveys  more  than  absolution.  In  the 
Sacrament  of  Penance,  however,  we  can  be  cleansed  and 
healed  again  and  again.  The  Sacrament  of  Penance  is  not 
generally  necessary  to  salvation.  It  has  been  held  by  the 
Church  to  be  ordinarily  necessary  for  those  who  after  bap- 
tism have  committed  mortal  sin.  A  mortal  sin — "a  sin  unto 
death" — is  a  wilful,  deliberate,  serious  sin,  called  in  our 
Prayer  Book  "a  weighty  matter,"  which  has  killed  grace  in 
the  soul  and  cut  it  off  from  God.  Something  more  than 
prayer,  it  would  seem,  is  needed  for  restoration.'  Venial 
sins  are  sins  we  commit  through  carelessness.  The  things 
we  would  not  do  and  do.    The  word  venial  means  forgive- 

2  St.  John  20:21-23. 
"I  St.  John  5:16. 


REQUIREMENTS  FOR  MEMBERSHIP         71 

able.  We  must  not  think  lightly  of  these  sins,  for  all  sin  is 
grievous  and  hateful  in  God's  sight  and  must  be  purged 
out  of  us  here  or  hereafter.  Moreover,  if  we  do  not  con- 
stantly watch,  pray  and  repent,  they  will  lead  to  mortal  sin. 
If  we  really  repent  and  confess  these  sins  to  God,  and  ask 
for  forgiveness  in  prayer,  and  in  the  Holy  Communion,  God 
can  and  will  forgive  them,  for  we  can  pray  in  His  name. 
In  mortal  sin  we  cannot  pray  in  Christ's  Name,  for  praying 
in  His  Name  means  praying  in  union  with  Him. 

But  the  Sacrament  of  Penance  is  a  means  of  grace  and 
used  not  only  by  grievous  sinners.  It  is  the  way  the  Saints 
have  trod.  Bishop  Gore  has  said,  "It  is  my  persuasion, 
which  deepens  with  every  year  of  experience,  that  there  will 
be  no  revival  of  vital  religion  among  us,  on  any  large  scale,  or 
with  any  adequate  results,  except  through  a  deepening  of 
the  sense  of  sin :  a  return  to  the  properly  Christian  severity 
of  view  about  the  meaning  of  sin  and  its  consequences ;  and 
that  this  is  needed  equally  in  all  classes  of  society  and  among 
all  kinds  of  men."  True  repentance  requires  a  definite  con- 
fession of  our  sins  one  by  one  to  God.  All  Christians  agree 
on  this,  and  the  feeling  is  pretty  general  that  under  some 
circumstances,  and  for  some  sins,  confession  to  man  is 
desirable,  if  not  essential.  The  Old  and  the  New  Testaments 
and  Christian  writers  of  the  first  centuries,  the  Salvation 
Army  and  the  Inquiry  Room  of  the  revival,  as  well  as  the 
Catholic  confessional,  testify  to  this.  In  the  army  during 
the  great  war,  chaplains  of  every  religion  heard  confessions. 

Professor  William  James  says  of  confession,  while  "not 
nearly  as  widespread  as  sacrifice,  it  corresponds  to  a  more 
inward  and  moral  stage  of  sentiment.  It  is  part  of  the 
general  system  of  purgation  and  cleansing  which  one  feels 
oneself  in  need  of  in  order  to  be  in  right  relations  to  one's 
deity.  For  him  who  confesses  shams  are  over  and  realities 
have  begun;  he  has  exteriorised  his  rottenness.  If  he  has 
not  actually  got  rid  of  it,  he  at  least  no  longer  smears  it  over 


72  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

with  a  hypocritical  show  of  virtue — he  lives  at  least  upon  a 
basis  of  veracity.  The  complete  decay  of  the  practice  of 
confession  in  Anglo-Saxon  communities  is  a  little  hard  to 
account  for."  * 

The  fact  is,  all  Protestant  sects,  when  they  separated  from 
the  Church,  did  not  immediately  give  up  confession  to  man. 
The  Scotch  Calvinists  required  confession,  although  it  was 
more  like  an  inquisition  than  a  confession.  The  member 
appeared  before  the  session,  and  if  a  good  examination  was 
passed,  he  or  she  was  given  a  token,  a  little  metal  coin,  which 
must  be  presented  next  day  when  coming  to  receive  the  Holy 
Communion.  These  old  Presbyterians,  whose  religion  was 
distinctly  Jewish,  had,  Hke  the  Jews,  a  deep  sense  of  sin  and 
the  holiness  of  God,  which  modern  Presbyterians  have  lost. 
The  difference  between  the  Catholic  Sacrament  and  the 
Inquiry  Room  confession  is  that  Protestant  confession  is 
confession  to  a  man  or  woman,  and  the  Catholic  Sacrament 
is  confession  made  to  God  in  the  presence  of  a  representative 
of  the  Church,  to  whom  has  been  given  the  power  to  apply 
the  Precious  Blood  of  Christ  to  the  penitent,  and  to  absolve 
him.  When  a  priest  baptizes  an  infant  or  an  adult  he  is 
doing  the  same  thing.  "I  baptize  thee"  is  the  same  as  "I 
absolve  thee,"  as  St.  Augustine  reminds  us.  A  well-known 
Missioner  preaching  on  penance  told  the  following  story: 
"One  day  a  young  man  came  to  me  and  said  he  wanted  to 
make  a  confession  but  he  did  not  believe  in  absolution.  After 
some  talk  with  him  I  said,  'Kneel  down  and  make  your  con- 
fession, and  I  will  give  you  counsel  and  advice  but,  of  course, 
I  cannot  give  you  absolution  if  you  have  not  faith  and  do 
not  desire  it.'  He  knelt  down  and  made  his  confession,  and 
after  I  had  given  him  counsel  he  said  'Oh,  I  want  absolution, 
I  do  believe.'  He  had  done  his  part  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
led  him  on  to  faith." 

In  the  first  centuries,  confessions  were  usually  made  in 

*  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience. 


REQUIREMENTS  FOR  MEMBERSHIP         73 

public,  but  are  now  made  in  private  and  are  secret.  "After 
the  cessation  of  Persecution  in  consequence  of  the  Edicts  of 
Milan  put  forth  by  the  Emperor  Constantine  in  A.  D.  313, 
public  confession  gave  rise  to  great  danger  of  collision 
with  the  civil  courts,  and  also  of  public  scandal,  and 
this  was  really  the  reason  for  its  discontinuance.  *  *  * 
To  say  that  sacramental  confession,  so  to  call  it,  did  not 
exist,  or  to  say  that  it  was  compulsory,  except  in  the  case 
of  certain  notorious  offences,  would  be  to  say  what  in  both 
cases  is  clean  contrary  to  the  testimony  of  contemporary 
writers.  But  we  cannot  determine,  beyond  that,  as  to  how 
prevalent  the  practice  was  at  least  up  to  the  end  of  the  fifth 
century.  After  that  date  it  was  becoming  increasingly  the 
normal  use  of  the  Church,  and  in  the  year  1215  it  was  at 
last  made  compulsory  in  the  Western  Church.  By  the 
Council  of  the  Lateran  in  that  year  it  was  enacted  that  every 
one  must  make  confession  of  his  sins  once  a  year  to  his  own 
priest  under  pain  of  excommunication  and  forfeiture  of 
Christian  burial."  ^ 

At  the  Reformation  the  Church  of  England  refused  to 
abolish  the  practice  of  private  confession  and  deliberately 
made  it  voluntary.^  "The  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  the 
writings  of  the  Reformers,  the  Canons  of  1603,  are  all  of 
them  absolutely  conclusive  on  this  point,  and  those  who 
attempt  to  curtail  the  liberty  of  the  clergy  of  the  English 
Church  in  the  exercise  of  their  ministry  in  the  hearing  of 
confessions  and  of  the  lay-people  in  making  their  confessions 
are  at  least  as  disloyal  to  the  emphatic  teaching  of  the  Prayer 
Book  and  Canons  as  those  who  have  attempted  to  make 
private  confession  compulsory  upon  all.  It  is  a  matter  about 
which  there  is  not  the  sHghtest  doubt  either  as  to  teaching  or 
practice ;  the  language  of  the  Prayer  Book  cannot  be  twisted 

•  Sin.— H.  V.   S.   Eck. 

•  "We  everywhere  find  the  use  of  confession,  especially  public,  allowed  of 
and  commended  by  the  Fathers;  but  that  extreme  and  rigorous  necessity  of 
auricular  and  private  confession,  which  is  at  this  day  so  mightily  upheld  by  the 
Church  of  Rome,  we  find  not."     Quoted  from  Hooker,  in  Sin. — H.  V.  S.  Eck. 


74  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

into  meaning  anything  else ;  the  plain  speaking  of  the  most 
thorough-going  Reformers,  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  Latimer, 
is  beyond  question  ;  the  Canons  of  1603  impose  a  most  severe 
penalty  upon  the  priest  who  divulges  what  has  been  made 
known  to  him  under  the  seal  of  confession ;  whilst  the  writ- 
ings and  practice  of  writers  of  all  schools  of  thought  from 
the  Reformation  down  to  the  present  day  make  it  abundantly 
clear  that  the  position  of  the  Prayer  Book  and  Canons  in 
the  matter  of  auricular  confession  is  one  which  has  been 
constantly  maintained  alike  in  the  teaching  and  in  the  prac- 
tice of  the  Church  of  England."  '  In  the  Preface  to  the 
American  Prayer  Book  we  read,  "This  Church  is  far  from 
intending  to  depart  from  the  Church  of  England  in  any 
essential  point  of  doctrine,  discipline  or  worship."  The 
abuses  and  the  perfunctoriness  of  the  Sacrament  in  the 
Church  of  Rome  have  come  from  making  it  obligatory  before 
every  Communion.^ 

"It  must  be  very  nice  and  easy  to  feel  you  can  sin,  and  then 
go  to  a  priest  and  be  forgiven,"  people  say.  It  is  not  half 
so  nice  and  easy  as  it  is  to  sin,  and  kneel  down  alone  and  with 
very  little  penitence  ask  God  to  forgive  your  sin.  It  is  not 
because  the  Sacrament  of  Penance  is  easy  that  people  do  not 
use  it,  but  because  it  is  hard.  Confession  to  God  before  a 
priest  humbles  pride,  makes  confession  definite,  gives  us 
another's  view  of  our  condition,  guarding  against  careless- 
ness on  one  hand  and  scrupulousness  on  the  other,  and,  above 
all,  it  gives  us  a  fresh,  clean  start ;  for  into  the  open  wounds 
the  priest,  to  whom  has  been  given  power  and  authority, 
pours  in  the  stinging  wine  and  the  healing  oil  of  absolution. 
Sacramental  absolution,  received  in  faith  and  penitence,  gives 
us  not  only  the  assurance  of  God's  forgiveness,  not  dependent 
on  our  feelings,  but  gives  grace  and  strength  to  conquer 
temptation.  This  is  what  our  Prayer  Book  calls  "the  benefit 
of  absolution." 

»  Sin.— H.  V.    S.   Kcki. 

*  See  letter  from  3tt  BnglisFr  prifesf'wha  went  to  Rome  and  came  back,  quoted 
in  Catholic,  or  Roman  Catholic. — T.  J.  Hardy. 


REQUIREMENTS  FOR  MEMBERSHIP         75 

Fr.  Figgis  says,  "It  is  vain  and  even  silly  to  expect  to 
convince  men  of  the  need  of  a  Saviour  who  are  yet  un- 
troubled by  conscience.*  *  *  But  is  this  laxity  the  mark 
of  good  Christians  or  even  of  the  most  religious  non-Chris- 
tians? Do  we,  as  a  fact,  find  that  the  higher  we  go  in  the 
scale  of  religious  insight  the  less  and  less  place  do  we  find 
for  sin  and  the  need  of  forgiveness  ?  To  ask  such  a  question 
is  to  answer  it.  The  evidence  of  the  saints  in  all  ages  is  at 
one  on  this  point.  The  words  of  St.  Paul,  'sinners  of  whom 
I  am  chief,'  are  not  the  mock  modesty  of  a  popular  preacher ; 
they  are  the  deep  and  poignant  cry  of  the  God-stricken  soul 
in  every  age ;  so  genuine  that  at  times  we  deem  them  morbid. 
Morbid  or  not,  they  are  the  actual  utterance  of  the  inmost 
being  of  men  so  diverse  as  St.  Augustine,  Pascal,  Bishop 
Andrewes,  Pusey,  Bunyan.  Even  in  other  and  less  perfect 
religions  there  is  the  same  deliverance — the  feeling  that  man 
is  weak  and  by  his  own  doing  comes  short;  that  there  is 
something  out  of  joint  in  the  world ;  and  that  he  cannot  of 
himself  heal  the  breach,  h^  *  *  Once  assure  me  of  for- 
giveness and  that  the  past  is  no  more,  and  that  victory  may 
one  day  be  mine,  and  I  care  not  what  outward  punishment 
there  be.  I  can  dance  lighthearted  through  the  rough  places, 
and  like  Paul  and  Silas  sing  hymns  in  prison.  That  is  the 
answer  in  actual  fact  of  the  shriven  penitent."  ® 

"I  believe  half  the  trouble  with  men  arises  from  sins  at 
the  back  of  their  minds,  which  they  cannot  get  rid  of.  Many 
want  to  come  back  to  religion ;  but  there  are  sins  behind,  and 
they  either  do  not  know  about  Confession,  or  else  dislike 
it,  and  so  they  tend  to  treat  the  Church  as  the  haunt  of  good 
people  and  not  (what  it  is)  as  the  home  of  sinners."  ^° 

The  absolutions  in  the  Church  services  are  a  general 
absolution  of  the  congregation,  "that  those  things  may  please 
Him  which  we  do  at  this  present"  (as  a  body ) .  Such  general 
absolutions  have  always  existed  in  the  offices  of  the  Church 

•  The  Gospel  and  Human  Needs. — J.  N.  Figgis,  C.  R. 
**>  Religion  and  English   Society. — J.  N.  Figgis,  C.  R, 


76  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

but  have  never  been  regarded  as  Sacramental.  We  would 
do  well  to  remember  and  act  upon  the  words  of  the  first 
English  Prayer  Book,  "requiring  such  as  shall  be  satisfied 
with  a  general  confession,  not  to  be  offended  with  them  that 
do  use,  to  their  further  satisfying,  the  auricular  and  secret 
confession  to  the  priest ;  nor  those  also  which  think  needful 
or  convenient,  for  the  quietness  of  their  own  consciences, 
particularly  to  open  their  sins  to  the  priest,  to  be  offended 
with  them  that  are  satisfied  with  their  humble  confession 
to  God  and  the  general  confession  to  the  Church.  But  in 
all  things  to  follow  and  keep  the  rule  of  charity,  and  every 
man  to  be  satisfied  with  his  own  conscience,  not  judging 
other  men's  minds  or  consciences ;  whereas  he  hath  no  war- 
rant of  God's  Word  to  the  same." 

''Philosophers  and  reformers,"  says  Bishop  Gore,  "who 
have  looked  below  the  surface  of  life  and  politics  have 
always  demanded  a  fresh  start  for  humanity.  Plato,  the 
Greek,  long  ago  said  there  could  be  no  real  remedy  for  the 
evils  of  society  unless  you  could  make  a  fresh  start.  He 
demanded  a  blank  tablet  to  draw  the  lineaments  of  life 
afresh.  Centuries  later  Thomas  Carlyle,  in  the  generation 
behind  our  own,  scoifed  at  the  Radicals  of  his  day,  who 
seemed  to  think  that  a  number  of  legislative  reforms  and 
'remedial  measures'  would  set  human  life  straight.  Nay,  he 
jeered,  these  are  but  quack  medicines — 'Morrison's  pills.' 
You  need  something  more  radical  than  your  radical  meas- 
ures. Radical  means  what  goes  to  the  root.  You  want  a 
change  at  the  root  of  human  life — a  fundamental  change !" 

"Ay,  but  sin  is  so  ingrained  in  our  nature,  it  passes  on 
from  father  to  son.  How  can  there  be  a  radical  change? 
How  can  we  renew  the  roots  of  our  nature  ?  How  can  we 
have  a  new  manhood  ?  In  fact,  we  cannot,  except  in  jKsus 
Christ.  He  alone  is  the  New  Man ;  He  alone  is  Man  with- 
out sin.  From  Him  alone  is  there  new  birth.  He  alone  can 
give,  in  truth  and  reality,  what  Plato  and  Carlyle  demanded. 


REQUIREMENTS  FOR  MEMBERSHIP         11 

Born  of  a  Virgin,  a  new  creation,  true  man,  but  new  man, 
He  only  can  give  us  human  nature  without  sin.  *He  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world.'  "  He  the  Lamb  of  God  who 
"makes  a  perfect  expiation  for  all  the  sins  which  men  have 
committed,  and  sets  flowing  a  fountain  of  spiritual  renewal, 
of  new  life,  to  dehver  them  for  the  future  from  the  power 
of  sin." 

"I  would  summon  all  social  reformers,  all  persons  who 
desire  to  improve  human  life,  to  see  to  it  that  they  learn  the 
lesson  of  the  one  Great  Physician,  the  one  true  Redeemer 
of  man.  Education  and  sanitary  reform  and  political  change 
may  do  much  for  human  life,  but  they  will  never  remove  the 
fundamental  evil.  That  fundamental  evil  is  sin.  *  *  *  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord  offered  to  God  the  Father,  especially  by  His 
death  upon  the  cross,  a  sacrifice  of  atonement  or  propitiation, 
by  the  merits  of  which  alone  we  sinful  men  can  be  accepted 
in  spite  of  our  unworthiness,  and  our  sins  can  be  forgiven. 
*  *  *  A  sacrifice  of  atonement,  a  great  act  of  reparation 
to  God  !  Surely,  if  sin  is  not  mere  ignorance  or  weakness  or 
folly,  but  is  an  offense  against  God  our  Father,  with  whom 
we  were  created  to  have  fellowship,  such  an  act  of  repara- 
tion must  have  been  somehow  necessary.  *  *  *  Christ, 
who  offers  the  great  sacrifice  of  Atonement,  offers  it  as  the 
representative  Man.  But  He  who  offers  it  is  also  in  our 
manhood  very  God.  So  that  God  Himself  supplies  the 
sacrifice  which  the  moral  situation  requires — itself  a  free 
gift  of  His  love."  ^^ 

"There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood 
Drawn  from  Emmanuel's  veins ; 
And  sinners  plunged  beneath  that  flood 
Lose  all  their  guilty  stains. 

"The  dying  thief  rejoiced  to  see 

That  fountain  in  his  day; 
And  there  may  I,  as  vile  as  he, 
Wash  al!  my  sins  away. 

11  The  Creed  of  tbc  Christian.— C.   Gore. 

6 


78  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

"Dear,  dying  Lamb,  Thy  precious  blood 

Shall  never  lose  its  power, 
Till  all  the  ransomed  Church  of  God 
Be  saved  to  sin  no  more." 

We  have  been  considering  the  godly  sorrow  for  sin  that 
worketh  repentance,  but  the  Apostle  tells  us  that  there  is 
another  kind  of  sorrow  for  sin,  and  that  is  the  sorrow  of  the 
world  that  worketh  death.  We  have  doubtless  all  seen  the 
return  of  the  impenitent  Prodigal  with  his  lost  fortune,  im- 
paired health,  his  hard  luck  story,  and  the  acknowledgment 
of  wrong  doing,  with  self -excusing  and  self-pity.  Sin  to  him 
is  a  mistake,  a  weakness,  and  he  is  sorry  he  was  so  weak 
and  foolish.  He  is  perfectly  selfish  and  self-centered,  and 
talks  much  about  the  lack  of  charity  in  others.  He  thanks 
God  that  while  he  is  not  a  religious  man  and  has  not  always 
done  right,  he  is  not  like  other  men  he  knows.  The  sorrow 
of  the  world  is  rooted  in  pride,  and  worketh  self-deception, 
self- justification,  bitterness,  hardness  of  heart  and  the  death 
of  the  soul.  Holy  Scripture  shows  us  many  cases  of  godly 
sorrow  for  sin  bringing  repentance,  and  also  of  worldly 
sorrow  that  worketh  death.  St.  Peter,  after  his  denial  of 
His  Lord,  went  out  and  wept  bitterly,  and  became  a  pillar 
of  the  Church,  a  great  Apostle,  a  martyr  and  a  saint.  Judas 
repented  himself  and  said,  "I  have  betrayed  the  innocent 
blood,"  and  went  out  and  hanged  himself. ^^  The  sorrow  of 
the  world  worketh  remorse,  despair  and  death,  for  it  is  not 
the  fruit  of  love.  Pharoah  is  another  example  of  God's  long- 
sufYering  mercy  in  dealing  with  sinners.  After  the  death  of 
the  first-born  it  seemed  that  at  last  God  had  succeeded  in 
breaking  his  stubborn  will  and  his  proud  heart,  but  his  sor- 
row was  the  sorrow  of  the  world  and  did  not  lead  to  repent- 
ance. Anger  and  hatred  of  God,  and  a  determination  not  to 
be  beaten  soon  took  possession  of  him.  His  day  of  grace, 
however,  was  over,  and  he  and  his  hosts  were  lost  in  the 

"St.  Matt.  27:3-5. 


REQUIREMENTS  FOR  MEMBERSHIP         79 

waters  of  the  Red  Sea,  through  which  God's  people  passed 
in  safety. 

"Now  all  these  things  happened  unto  them  for  ensamples : 
and  are  written  for  our  admonition,  unto  whom  the  ends  of 
the  world  are  come.  Wherefore  let  him  that  thinketh  he 
standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall.  There  hath  no  temptation 
(or  trial)  taken  you  but  such  as  is  common  to  man:  but 
God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be  tempted  (or 
tried)  above  that  ye  are  able;  but  will  with  the  temptation 
also  make  a  way  to  escape,  they  ye  may  be  able  to  bear  it."  ^^ 

"I   Cor.   10:11-13. 


REQUIREMENTS  FOR  MEMBERSHIP 

FAITH 

"He  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  He  is,  and  that  He  is  a 
rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  Him."^ 

The  quest  for  God  has  been  in  all  ages  and  among  all 
peoples  the  great  romance.  Man  was  made  for  God.  While 
he  is  akin  to  the  beasts  that  perish,  he  feels  he  is  something 
more.  He  is  not  of  the  passing  world;  it  does  not  satisfy 
him;  there  is  something  in  him  that  seeks  communion  and 
satisfaction  with  the  unseen  and  eternal  and  with  a  being 
who  is  above  him  but  to  whom  he  belongs  and  whom  he 
can  know.  Man  is  naturally  religious.  We  see  this  in 
primitive  peoples  and  in  little  children  untouched  by  sophis- 
tries, and  unhardened  by  the  cares  and  the  pleasures  of 
the  world.  When  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
puts  faith  as  the  fundamental  requirement  of  those  who 
would  know  God,  he  is  not  asking  something  that  is  un- 
natural to  man.  He  who  wants  to  know  God  must  believe 
He  exists,  that  He  is  not  just  an  influence  or  a  first  cause, 
and  that  He  can  be  known  by  men.  "That  they  should  seek 
the  Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after  Him,  and  find  Him, 
though  He  be  not  far  from  every  one  of  us." 

The  quest  is  one  that  has  always  attracted  great  souls,  men 
and  women  who  have  been  willing  to  give  up  their  lives  to  it. 
History,  art,  and  literature  testify  to  this.  Among  ancient 
peoples  it  finds  its  highest  expression  in  the  Jewish  poets 
and   prophets.     **Bov/   Thy   heavens,   O   Lord,   and   come 

»Heb.   11:6. 

80 


REQUIREMENTS  FOR  MEMBERSHIP        81 

down,"  cries  the  Psalmist,  and,  as  the  sense  of  sin  grows, 
there  grows  with  it  a  reaHzation  that  the  Messiah  will  be 
"despised  and  rejected  of  men,  a  Man  of  sorrows,  and 
acquainted  with  grief."  Then  in  the  fullness  of  time,  at 
a  certain  moment  in  human  history,  God  answered  this 
age-long  cry.  He  bowed  the  heavens  and  came  down,  and 
"was  Incarnate  by  the  Holy  Ghost  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and 
was  made  man."  And  when,  on  the  first  Christmas  Day, 
Blessed  Mary  brought  forth  her  first-born  son,  and  wrapped 
Him  in  swaddling  clothes,  and  laid  Him  in  a  manger  because 
there  was  no  room  for  Him  in  the  inn, 

"Heaven's  arches  rang  when  the  angels  sang, 
Proclaiming  Thy  royal  degree; 
But  in  lowly  birth  didst  Thou  come  to  earth, 
And  in  great  humility. 

Oh,  come  to  my  heart,  Lord  Jesus ! 
There  is  room  in  my  heart  for  Thee. 

"Thou  camest,  O  Lord,  with  the  living  word, 
That  should  set  Thy  people  free ; 
But  with  mocking  scorn,  and  with  crown  of  thorn, 
They  bore  Thee  to  Calvary. 

Oh,  come  to  my  heart.  Lord  Jesus  I 
Thy  cross  is  my  only  plea." 

This  is  the  faith  of  the  Creeds,  this  is  the  Gospel,  the 
good  news,  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  for  all  people, 
"unto  you  is  born  a  Saviour,  Christ  the  Lord."  A  Saviour, 
a  deliverer,  this  is  what  the  weary,  sin-sick  world  is  asking 
for,  and  this  is  what  the  Catholic  Creeds  proclaim. 

Christianity  is  not  one  of  the  great  religions  of  the 
world.  It  is  the  revelation  of  God.  It  is  that  or  nothing. 
God  has  revealed  Himself  not  in  a  book  or  by  a  prophet, 
but,  "God,  Who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners 
spake  in  time  past  unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets,  hath 
in  these  last  days  spoken  unto  us  by  His  Son,  whom  He 
hath  appointed  heir  of  all  things,  by  whom  also  He  made 


82  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

the  worlds ;  who  being  the  brightness  of  His  glory,  and  the 
express  image  of  His  person,  and  upholding  all  things  by 
the  word  of  His  power,  when  He  had  by  Himself  purged 
our  sins,  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on 
high."  2  It  is  this  we  promised  at  baptism  to  believe. 
Before  the  war  people  said,  It  does  not  matter  what  you 
believe  if  you  do  what  is  right;  conduct  is  the  important 
thing.  Of  course  it  was  false  reasoning,  and  the  war  has 
exploded  that  idea.  The  German  people  are  to-day  what 
they  are  because  for  forty  years  they  were  taught  the  pagan 
creed  of  Nietzsche  and  Bernhardi.  Their  conduct  and  their 
character  are  the  result  of  this  creed.  So  the  Church 
requires  her  members  to  believe  a  creed — the  Apostles 
Creed — which  is  a  short  form  of  the  great  Catholic  Creed, 
the  Nicene  Creed,  drawn  up  for  the  most  part  at  the  Council 
of  Nicea,  A.  D.  325;  and  the  Christian  creed  is  the  foun- 
dation of  Christian  character  and  conduct. 

When  faith  is  spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament  it  is 
sometimes  as  an  act  of  belief  and  sometimes  as  the  thing 
beheved.  There  is  faith  and  the  faith.  Those  who  keep 
the  faith  are  the  faithful,  and  the  Church  is  "the  blessed 
company  of  all  faithful  people."  Christian  faith  is  a  whole- 
hearted surrender  of  mind,  body  and  soul  to  God.  It 
led  the  first  Christians  to  sever  old  associations  and  family 
ties,  and,  confessing  their  sins,  accept  in  baptism  Jesus  Christ 
as  Lord  and  Master.  All  real  faith,  whether  in  business,  in 
science  or  in  religion,  leads  to  action.  Faith  without  works 
is  dead.     It  is  not  faith  at  all. 

Repentance  and  faith  are  the  foundations  of  the  Christian 
life;  without  these  dispositions  Sacraments  are  of  no  benefit, 
for  Sacraments  are  like  the  good  seed  which,  if  sown  on 
hard  or  stony  ground,  or  uncared  for  and  choked  by  the 
cares  and  pleasures  of  this  world,  brings  forth  no  fruit,  or 
no  fruit  to  perfection.    That  is  why  so  many  Christians  are 

2  Heb.  1:1-3. 


REQUIREMENTS  FOR  MEMBERSHIP        83 

showing  no  fruits  of  the  Spirit  in  their  lives  but  are  just  like 
other  people.  They  have  no  real  religion  because  they  have 
no  real  faith.  So  I  would  ask  the  reader,  What  does  God 
mean  to  youf  Is  He  real  to  you,  a  tender,  loving,  Almighty 
Father,  to  whom  you  go  with  your  joys,  your  perplexities, 
and  your  sorrows,  and  in  whom  you  trust  when  things  seem 
wrong,  and  days  are  dark,  because  you  know  and  love 
Him  ?  What  does  Jesus  Christ,  His  Incarnation  and  atoning 
death  mean  to  you?  Do  they  mean  that  "God  so  loved  the 
world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son  that  whosoever 
beiieveth  on  Him  should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting 
life?"  Does  your  heart  thrill  with  gratitude  when  you  say 
"through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord"  at  the  end  of  your  prayers, 
because  you  remember  what  it  cost  God  to  give  you  the 
right  to  say  this?  Do  you  think  much  of  God's  love  for 
you?  Our  religion  would  be  more  real  if  we  thought  more 
of  God  and  less  of  self.  What  does  the  Cross  mean  in  your 
life?  Does  it  lead  you  to  penitence,  and  speak  to  you  of 
love  and  forgiveness?  Does  it  sanctify  and  enable  you  to 
bear  your  daily  crosses  with  patience  and  cheerfulness? 
What  does  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  mean  to  you? 
Do  you  know  the  power  of  His  resurrection  in  your  life? 
What  does  His  ascension  into  Heaven  mean  to  you?  Do 
you  often  think  of  Him  in  heaven  ever  living  to  make  inter- 
cession for  us  ?  Does  this  help  you  to  "carry  on,"  and  "with 
heart  and  mind  thither  ascend  and  with  Him  continually 
dwell?" 

What  is  God  the  Holy  Ghost  to  you  ?  To  most  Christians 
He  means  less  than  God  the  Father  and  God  the  Son,  but 
it  should  not  be  so.  We  miss  power  and  joy  in  our  lives  if 
we  neglect  God  the  Holy  Ghost.  By  His  power  we  were 
born  again  and  made  members  of  Christ.  He  it  is  that 
pours  upon  us  His  manifold  gifts  in  the  laying  on  of  hands 
at  Confirmation,  and  He  it  is  that  brings  Jesus  to  us  in  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  of  the  Altar.     We  are  the  temples  of 


84  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

tlie  Holy  Ghost.  He  is  to  us  "nearer  than  hands  and  feet." 
How  much  do  you  think  of  this  ?  What  does  the  one  Holy 
CathoHc  and  Apostohc  Church  mean  to  you?  Is  it  to  you 
just  a  human  organization  to  do  good  in  the  world,  or  is 
it  His  new  creation  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  "the  Bride  of  Christ 
and  Mother  of  us  all?"  You  have  often  sung  the  hymn, 
"The  Church's  one  foundation."  Read  it  over  carefully,  and 
see  if  the  Church  means  this  to  you.  Believing  in  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church  means  also  accepting  its  teaching  and 
authority,  and  being  loyal  to  it.  What  does  the  Communion 
of  Saints  mean  to  you?  Do  you  realize  this  fellowship  in 
the  Body  of  Christ  as  the  source  of  all  true  friendship,  and 
of  all  enduring  love?  There  is  no  such  thing  as  real  sepa- 
ration to  those  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  even  here  we 
have  glimpses  of  what  this  Communion  may  be  when  "sin 
shall  be  no  more."  How  much  do  you  think  of  the  cloud 
of  witnesses  about  you?  And  when  the  strife  is  fierce,  the 
conflict  long,  does  there  steal  on  your  ear  the  distant  triumph 
song,  making  you  brave  and  strong? 

What  does  the  forgiveness  of  sins  mean  to  you?  The 
most  important  thing  in  the  world  for  us  all  is  to  know  our 
sins  are  forgiven.  Do  you  know  what  your  sins  are,  and 
do  you  know  they  are  forgiven  ?  What  does  the  resurrection 
of  the  body  (not  the  immortality  of  the  soul)  and  the  life 
everlasting  mean  to  you  ?  Some  day  you  will  die  and  your 
body  will  be  laid  in  the  ground.  Perhaps  you  have  seen 
the  body  of  one  you  loved  laid  in  the  grave,  and  heard  St. 
Paul's  wonderful  words  to  the  Corinthians,  that  have  helped 
so  many,  and  are  so  arresting  to  the  man  in  the  street  who 
never  goes  to  church  except  to  weddings  and  funerals.  Do 
you  know  how  this  mortal  body  puts  on  immortality?  Do 
you  know  what  the  seed  is  that  is  planted  in  the  body,  and 
must  be  buried  and  die  before  it  can  be  raised  a  spiritual 
body?  Read  over  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  I  Corinthians  in 
the  burial  service,  and  then  read  the  third  and  sixth  chapters 


REQUIREMENTS  FOR  MEMBERSHIP        85 

of  St.  John's  Gospel,  and  the  Baptismal  and  Communion 
Services  in  the  Prayer  Book,  and  you  will  learn  the  seed 
was  planted  in  baptism,  and  the  life  nourished  and  kept 
alive  by  feeding  on  Christ  in  the  Ploly  Communion.  "Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketli 
my  blood  hath  eternal  life,  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the 
last  day."  What  is  the  Holy  Eucharist  to  you?  Is  it  the 
very  centre  of  your  life?  What  do  your  Communions  mean 
to  you?  Are  they  a  source  of  strength  and  joy?  Do  you 
make  them  regularly,  prepare  for  them  carefully,  and  for 
days  after  say  a  thanksgiving,  and  remember  and  guard  the 
gift  you  have  received? 

"And  this  is  life  eternal,  that  they  might  know  Thee  the 
only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  Thou  hast  sent." 
Knowing  God,  not  merely  knowing  about  Him,  but  knowing 
Him  as  person  to  person,  friend  to  friend,  is  life  eternal  and 
is  the  reward  of  those  who  diligently  seek  Him  by  faith 
through  prayer  and  sacraments. 

"My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee, 
Thou  Lamb  of  Calvary, 

Saviour  divine  I 
Now  hear  me  while  I  pray; 
Take  all  my  guilt  away ; 
Oh,  let  me  from  this  day 

Be  wholly  Thine !" 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP 
THE  THREEFOLD  VOW 

Question.    What  did  your  Sponsors  then  for  you? 

Answer.  They  did  promise  and  vow  three  things  in  my  name: 
First,  that  I  should  renounce  the  devil  and  all  his  works,  the  pomps 
and  vanity  of  this  wicked  world,  and  all  the  sinful  lusts  of  the  flesh ; 
Secondly,  that  I  should  believe  all  the  Articles  of  the  Christian 
Faith;  And  Thirdly,  that  I  should  keep  God's  holy  will  and  com- 
mandments, and  walk  in  the  same  all  the  days  of  my  life. — The 
Catechism,  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

"No  man  can  serve  two  masters :  for  either  he  will  hate 
the  one,  and  love  the  other ;  or  else  he  will  hold  to  the  one 
and  despise  the  other.  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon." 
Thus  our  Lord  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  puts  before 
us  the  demand  His  service  makes  upon  His  disciples.  We 
cannot  serve  Him  and  serve  the  world,  and  will  only  be 
unhappy  if  we  try.  His  kingdom  and  the  kingdom  of  this 
world  "stand  opposed  in  an  everlasting  opposition.  Neither 
absorbing  the  other,  but  each  drawing  adherents  from  each, 
in  an  ever-shifting  conflict."^  But  why  is  this?  Is  not 
this  beautiful,  wonderful  world  God's  world?  Do  we  not 
say  in  the  creed,  "I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty, 
maker  of  heaven  and  earth,"  and  do  we  not  see  the  touch 
of  His  hand  and  His  authorship  stamped  on  creation  ?  Yes, 
we  feel  this,  and  yet,  as  we  look  deeper,  we  see  there  is 
something  wrong.  We  look  at  the  world  of  human  society, 
we  read  the  daily  papers,  we  look  into  our  own  hearts,  and 
everywhere  we  see  something  is  wrong.  What  is  it?  The 
world  has  many  answers ;  the  Church  and  Holy  Scripture 

iThe  World.— W.   C.  E).   Newbolt. 

86 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  87 

have  but  one.  Sin,  they  say,  is  what  is  wrong  with  the  world, 
and  sin  is  not  ignorance,  folly  or  weakness,  the  survival  of 
the  animal  in  us  which  we  can  outgrow,  and  which  will 
inevitably  disappear  from  humanity  as  it  progresses  and 
develops,  the  war  has  taught  us  that.  "Sin,"  says  St. 
John,  "is  lawlessness,"  rebellion  against  God  and  His  laws, 
and  sin  has  produced  the  discord  and  misery  we  see  in  our- 
selves and  in  the  world. 

"Everywhere  in  Nature  is  the  reign  of  law,"  says  Bishop 
Gore.  "The  stars  and  planets  in  the  solar  systems  move  on 
their  appointed  courses ;  the  forces  of  heat  and  light  and 
electricity,  the  various  forms  of  motion,  go  on  each  invari- 
ably by  its  own  law;  the  life  of  each  plant  or  body  develops 
or  fails  according  to  law ;  law  reigns  over  the  development 
of  all  human  faculties  and  powers,  But. .  .at  the  centre  of 
man's  being  there  is  a  mystery.  Man  is  a  moral  and  not 
merely  a  physical  being.  He  can  serve  with  a  free  service 
as  lawfully  as  stars  or  dumb  animals,  and  by  his  free  choice. 
But  he  can  also  rebel.  He  can  know  the  right  and  choose 
the  wrong.  He  may  be  perfectly  enlightened  and  yet  wicked. 
He  may  set  himself  against  God,  against  duty,  against  lavv^. 
This  is  sin  in  its  proper  sense.  Sin  is  lawlessness.  Sin 
can,  within  Hmits,  disturb  and  disorder  God's  world.  I  say 
within  limits,  for  man  is  not  God,  and  God  has  not  let  go 
out  of  His  hand  the  government  of  the  world.  In  the  end 
the  universe  will  reach  the  end  God  intended  for  it.  The 
kingdom  of  God  will  come.  But,  by  the  way,  and  (so  to 
speak)  down  to  a  certain  depth,  man  can  disturb  the  order 
of  God.  He  can  introduce,  he  has  introduced,  lawlessness 
into  the  world.  *  *  *  When  the  human  body  was  fitted 
to  the  dwelling-place  of  spirit,  man,  as  a  spiritual  being, 
began  his  career ;  he  was  quite  imperfect ;  he  had  everything 
to  learn ;  he  was  simple  as  a  child — 'barbarous,'  if  you  like. 
But  he  was  not  necessarily  sinful.  He  need  not  have  re- 
belled against  God  and  the  laws  of  his  own  nature.     Had 


88  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

he  retained  his  innocence,  we  cannot  doubt  that  the  history 
of  human  development  would  have  been  more  rapid,  more 
glorious — ah,  how  much  more  rapid  and  glorious ! — than, 
in  fact,  it  has  been;  for,  in  fact,  it  has  been  at  every  stage 
tainted  by  sin.  The  first  sin  is  described  in  the  third  chapter 
of  Genesis.  That  chapter,  like  its  surroundings,  is  probably 
rather  allegory  than  history.  But  it  is  inspired  to  teach  us 
the  deepest  lessons  of  life.  It  is  inspired  to  teach  the  true 
character  of  sin.  Sin  is  not  human  nature.  It  is  the  viola- 
tion of  the  law  of  human  nature.  It  is  lawlessness.  It  is 
man  refusing  God  and  wanting  to  be  a  God  himself,  and 
so  failing  under  trial  and  putting  his  nature  out  of  joint. 
This  is  always  and  everywhere  the  nature  of  sin.  Original 
sin  is  the  result  of  actual  sins.  Actual  sins  are  always  acts 
of  will  by  which  men  reject  God,  try  to  be  independent  of 
God,  and  so  violate  the  law  of  their  nature.  Sin  is  lawless- 
ness." ^  So  it  is  that  this  world,  created  for  the  happiness 
and  the  development  of  man,  has  become  a  snare,  and  may 
not  be  freely  enjoyed  by  man.  It  is  indeed,  God's  world,  but 
"it  lieth  in  wickedness." 

There  are  two  beings  that  strive  to  win  the  allegiance  of 
every  human  being  that  comes  into  the  world — God  and  the 
devil — and  at  our  baptism  we,  or  our  sponsors  for  us,  made 
our  choice.  Our  Catechism  reminds  us  we  renounced  the 
devil  and  all  his  works.  In  the  revision  of  the  Prayer  Book 
in  1662  the  word  "renounced"  was  substituted  for  the  word 
"forsake."  To  renounce  means  to  declare  war  against ;  and 
we  promise  to  fight  against  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the 
devil.  One  of  the  cleverest  things  the  devil  does  is  to  try 
to  persuade  us  he  does  not  exist.  The  great  world  war  has 
helped  many  to  believe  in  a  personal  devil,  and  to  see  that 
"we  wrestle  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against  princi- 
palities, against  powers,  against  the  rulers  of  the  darkness 
of  this  world,  against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places." 

»  The  Creed  of  the  Christian.— C.   Gore. 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  89 

The  works  of  the  devil  are  spiritual  sins,  and  of  these  the 
root  sins  are  pride,  envy,  and  anger.  St.  Gregory  called 
pride,"  the  root  of  all  sin."  ^  "It  is,"  says  Mr.  Eck,  "pre-emi- 
nently the  sin  of  the  Devil,  the  sin  which,  as  some  have 
thought,  cast  him  out  of  heaven.  It  is  the  sin  to  which  he 
tempted  Eve  when  he  said,  *Ye  shall  be  as  God.'  It  is  the 
sin  of  the  creature  setting  itself  up  against  the  Creator. 
*  *  *  As  such  we  see  how  Pride  appeared  to  S.  Gregory, 
and  to  those  who  adopted  his  enumeration  of  the  seven  sins, 
as  the  root  and  ground  of  them  all,  for  all  sin  in  the  last 
resort  is  the  rebellion  of  the  will  against  God."  Pride  is 
the  commonest  and  most  subtle  sin  and  underlies  many  sins 
which  we  do  not  suspect  as  having  their  roots  in  it.  Think 
what  havoc  it  has  wrought  in  the  world,  of  the  ruin  it  has 
brought  in  families,  of  the  friends  it  has  estranged  (it  is 
the  root  of  hurt  feelings,  another  name  for  wounded  pride), 
of  the  sinners  it  has  kept  from  repentance,  confirmation, 
and  the  Holy  Communion,  of  the  good  things  God,  would 
give  us  and  cannot,  because  we  will  not  stoop 'to  receive 
them.  It  is  the  meek  who  inherit  the  earth,  little  as  we  think 
it.  As  the  sin  of  the  Father  of  Lies  it  assumes  the  guise 
of  every  virtue,  especially  of  humihty.  How  often  a  priest 
is  told  "I  cannot  come  to  the  Holy  Communion  because  I 
am  not  good  enough."  "Pride,"  says  a  writer  on  the 
spiritual  life,  "seems  almost  more  disastrous  than  'the  lust 
of  the  flesh  and  the  lust  of  the  eyes,'  it  seems  to  blind  the 
conscience  and  harden  the  heart  more  than  sins  of  the  flesh." 

The  only  way  we  can  conquer  pride,  and  cast  it  out  of  our 
hearts,  is  to  cultivate  the  difficult  and  beautiful  virtue  of 
humility.  Humility  must  not  be  confused  with  modesty  as 
it  sometimes  is.     Modesty  is  largely  exterior ;  humility  is 

•These  seven  root  sins,  commonly  called  deadly  sins,  but  more  properly 
root  or  capital  sins,  are  the  roots  out  of  which  other  sins  grow.  Lying  and 
hatred,  for  example,  may  grow  from  the  root  of  pride  or  anger  or  some  other  sin. 

For  the  definitions  of  the  seven  deadly  or  root  sins  and  the  quotations  in 
this  chapter,  I  am  indebted  to  a  valuable  book — Sin,  by  H.  V.  S.  Eck,  pub- 
lished by  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  in  the  Oxford  Library  of  Practical  Theology. 


90  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

interior;  modesty  may,  and  often  does,  exist  without 
humility.  "Pride  is  the  enthronement  of  self  on  the  throne 
of  our  personality:  Humility  is  the  enthronement  of  God. 
All  the  forms  and  manifestations  of  Pride,  all  the  progeny 
which  springs  from  its  root,  will  be  conquered  and  destroyed 
in  proportion  as  we  attain  to  a  true  estimate  of  self,  in  pro- 
portion as  we  learn  to  give  God  the  first  place  in  our  hearts, 
the  real  empire  over  our  lives."  Strange  and  wonderful 
as  it  is,  it  is  God  Plimself  Who  shows  us  true  humihty. 
"He  stoops  to  conquer."  "God  is  great,  the  cry  of  the 
Moslem,  is  a  truth  which  needed  no  supernatural  being  to 
teach  men.  That  God  is  little,  that  is  the  truth  which  Jesus 
taught  man,  and  we  find  at  once  so  tender  and  perplexing," 
says  Fr.  Figgis.* 

Blessed  indeed  it  is  to  give,  but  no  one  can  give 
without  hurting  until  he  or  she  has  learned  of  Jesus 
how  to  receive.  How  unlovely,  unlovable  and  ungracious 
are  those  who  will  do  everything  for  themselves,  to 
whom  we  can  render  no  service ;  or  those  who  in  pride 
take  service  and  gifts  for  granted  or  as  their  right.  Such 
may  be  drivers;  they  can  never  be  leaders,  for  their  pride 
and  self-sufficiency  kill  love  and  enthusiasm.  If  we  were 
more  careful,  more  real,  more  whole-hearted  and  definite 
in  our  thanksgivings  to  God  for  His  mercies  and  blessings, 
many  of  which  come  through  others,  we  would  be  well  on 
the  way  to  learn  how  to  receive  with  Christian  humility. 

Humility  is  the  fruit  of  love — it  is  self-forgetful  love — 
and  in  the  converted  Son  of  Zebedee — the  Son  of  Thunder 
— we  see  pride  conquered  by  love.  The  dignity,  the  sweet 
graciousness,  the  winning  charm  of  true  humility,  is  pre- 
eminently exemplified  in  St.  John  the  Divine,  the  Apostle 
of  Love,  also  in  our  own  Saint,  John  Keble,  and  in  those  of 
the  same  kind  but  of  lesser  degree.  If  any  think  humility 
is  a  flabby  thing,  let  him  read  the  strong  burning  words  of 

*The  Gospel  and  Human   Needs.— J.  N.  Figgis,  C.   R. 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  91 

St.  John's  Epistles.  Pride  is  said  to  be  the  sin  of  the  great, 
as  vanity  is  the  sin  of  the  small,  and  humility  is  the  virtue 
and  glory  of  the  saints.  It  is  only  the  big  who  can  stoop, 
and  it  is  God  who  stoops  the  lowest,  and  reveals  Himself  to 
men  as  a  helpless  and  dependent  babe  in  a  manger,  and  a 
lowly,  despised  sufferer  on  a  Cross  of  shame.  He  stoops 
to  receive,  He  allows  His  creatures,  even  His  enemies,  to 
minister  to  Him ;  this  is  the  wonder  of  the  Incarnation. 
We  can  minister  to  God,  we  can  make  Him  glad.  "Blessed 
are  the  poor  in  spirit :  for  their's  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

The  second  spiritual  root  sin  is  envy.  St.  John  says  the 
first  murder  was  due  to  envy,  and  for  envy  the  Jews  de- 
livered up  Jesus^  to  Pilate,  as  he  knew.  It  is  one  of  the 
meanest  of  sins.  "Envy  can  never  pretend  to  justice,  as 
hatred  and  uncharitableness  sometimes  may,"  says  Bishop 
Jeremy  Taylor.  This  sin  "can  only  be  combated  by  the  very 
deliberate  exercise  and  cultivation  of  the  contrary  spiritual 
virtues — the  virtue  of  the  love  of  God  and  of  one's  neigh- 
bour— and  by  the  very  deliberate  setting  of  one's  affections 
on  things  above." 

Anger  is  the  third  spiritual  root  sin,  and  it  leads  to  many 
sins.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  righteous  anger  as  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  proper  pride,  but  righteous  anger  is  free 
from  self,  and  made  clean  by  a  burning  love  for  God  and 
man.  The  anger  of  God  is  holy  and  righteous  because 
"it  is  the  anger  of  Him  Who  is  perfect  Love."  To  combat 
this  sin  we  must  cultivate  self-control  in  thought,  word, 
and  deed,  and  the  contrary  virtues  of  patience  and  temper- 
ance. 

Then  again,  we  renounced  the  pomps  and  vanity  of  this 
wicked  world — the  passing  show — and  promised  not  to 
follow  nor  be  led  by  them.  The  root  sin  of  the  world  is 
covetousness.  "It  is  the  sin  which  stands  in  'the  lust  of 
getting  and  the  greed  of  keeping,'  the  sin  which  leads  a  man 

•St.  Matt.  27:18. 


92  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

not  only  to  desire  what  is  another's,  but  to  cling  too  closely 
to  what  is  his  own."  Our  Lord  expresses  this  in  the  parable 
of  the  Rich  Fool,  and  St.  John  says  covetousness  is  idolatry. 
"It  is  the  sin  which  puts  the  creature  in  the  place  of  the 
Creator.  It  is  the  sin  which  makes  a  god  of  things  innocent 
and  even  good  in  themselves,  and  allows  them,  little  by  little, 
to  take  up  all  the  affection  and  interest  in  a  man's  life."  ^ 
Love  of  money,  business,  pleasure,  power,  praise,  honor, 
success,  and  even  noble  things,  like  the  love  of  country  and 
family,  may  become  idolatry. 

Then,  too,  we  come  into  the  world  tainted.  We  in- 
herit a  diseased  nature  and  a  weakened  will.  A  diseased 
man,  or  a  man  with  an  inherited  tendency  to  a  disease, 
cannot  live  as  a  man  who  is  sound.  "In  sin  hath  my  mother 
conceived  me,"  cries  the  Psalmist,  and  our  Prayer  Book 
and  Catechism  remind  us  of  this,  and  that  our  baptism 
means,  "a  death  unto  sin,  and  new  birth  unto  righteousness : 
for  being  by  nature  born  in  sin,  and  the  children  of  wrath,  we 
are  hereby  made  the  children  of  grace."  Every  now  and  then 
an  effort  is  made  by  those  who  would  deny  the  sternness  of 
the  Gospel,  to  strike  out  or  change  the  words  "conceived 
and  born  in  sin,"  and  "children  of  wrath"  in  the  Catechism 
and  Baptismal  Service.  They  hurt  human  pride  and  offend 
modern  taste.  Perhaps,  too,  Puritanism  gave  us  a  wrong 
idea  of  the  meaning  of  these  words,  which  express  a  truth 
we  cannot  alter  and  would  be  unwise  to  hide.  God  does  not 
hate  the  little  child,  as  the  Calvinists  taught.  He  loves  him 
while  he  is  yet  a  sinner,  and  opens  his  arms  wide  to  receive 
him  and  make  him  a  child  of  grace.  Every  word  in  the 
Baptismal  Service  tells  of  this.  Perhaps  it  is  our  neglect 
of  the  Old  Testament  that  has  made  us  forget  that  every 
child  is  conceived  and  born  in  sin,  and  needs  redemption. 
A  better  and  more  intelligent  observance  of  the  Feasts  of  the 
Circumcision  and  the  Presentation  in  the  Temple  would  help 
us  to  understand  this  truth. 

•Sin.— H.  V.  S.  Eck. 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  93 

But  the  Catholic  Church  has  never  been  Puritan.  Jesus 
Christ  came  eating  and  drinking,  not  an  ascetic  Hke  His 
great  forerunner.  He  was  called  "a  wine  bibber"  and  a 
"friend  of  publicans  and  sinners."  His  first  miracle  was 
not  to  relieve  human  misery  but  to  give  human  happiness. 
The  Sacrament  of  His  Love  was  instituted  in  material  things 
— bread  and  wine — which  speak  of  food  and  joy.  His 
delight  in  His  creation  is  shown  again  and  again  in  sermon 
and  parable,  and  a  fresh  delight  in  nature  for  itself  was  a 
characteristic  of  the  early  Christians  and  a  distinctive  mark 
of  the  Christian  Fathers  among  ancient  writers.  But  while 
the  Church  encourages  and  sanctifies  the  innocent  pleasures 
of  Hfe,  she  bids  her  members  "sit  hghtly"  and  not  "follow 
nor  be  led  by  them."  She  reminds  them,  too,  that  'what  is 
one  man's  meat  is  another  man's  poison,"  and  therefore  to 
be  avoided  by  the  latter,  while  the  former  may  indulge  in 
it.  The  man  who  by  his  sin  has,  like  Esau,  sold  his  birth- 
right enjoyment  of  the  good  things  of  life,  must  cut  off  his 
right  hand  and  put  out  his  right  eye  to  be  saved.  Only  by 
this  serious  surgical  operation  and  strict  self-denial  can  he 
at  last  enter  upon  his  heavenly  inheritance.  He  cannot  live 
as  a  whole  man. 

To  train  us  to  "sit  lightly"  tlie  Church  sets  apart  one  day 
a  week  as  the  Lord's  Day  that  we  may  remember  all  our 
time  belongs  to  God,  and  also  in  this  way  she  provides  us 
the  time  and  opportunity  so  much  needed  in  our  busy  life 
for  the  development  of  our  spiritual  nature.  Lent  calls  us 
to  give  up  for  a  time  the  lawful  pleasures  of  life  and  learn 
self-control. 

And  last  of  all  St.  Paul  bids  us  remember  our  duty 
to  our  brother.  "All  things  are  lawful  unto  me,  but 
all  things  are  not  expedient ;  all  things  are  lawful  for  me, 
but  I  will  not  be  brought  under  the  power  of  any."^  "Where- 
fore, if  meat  make  my  brother  to  ofifend,  I  will  eat  no  flesh 

'  I  Cor.  6:12. 

7 


94  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

while  the  world  standeth,  lest  I  make  my  brother  to  offend."  * 
Thus  St.  Paul  proclaims  his  Christian  liberty  and  his  Chris- 
tian responsibility. 

"Covetousness,"  says  Mr.  Eck,  "is  a  sin  which  needs, 
more  it  may  be  than  others,  most  careful  watching,  because 
of  its  stealthy,  creeping  nature;  a  man  does  not  as  a  rule 
become  covetous  at  once,  it  is  only  gradually  that  the  love 
of  the  creature  encroaches  upon  the  heart,  only  at  last  that 
it  drives  out  all  other  love  than  its  own."  We  can  best  com- 
bat this  sin  by  keeping  Sunday,  by  keeping  the  Christian 
year  of  fast  and  festival,  and  by  generous  self-forgetful 
service  of  God  and  man. 

We  renounced  at  our  baptism  the  sinful  lusts  of 
the  flesh,  that  we  should  not  follow  nor  be  led  by  them. 
The  first  root  sin  here  is  sloth,  or  as  it  used  to  be  called, 
accidie,  which  might  almost  be  translated  "don't  care." 
"But  while  both  sloth  and  accidie  are  sins  of  a  similar  char- 
acter, they  seem  rather  to  proceed  from  different  sides  of 
our  nature,  if  we  can  so  speak,  sloth  being  rather  a  sin  of 
the  flesh,  whilst  accidie,  though  not  without  certain  very 
decided  roots  in  the  bodily  nature,  is  very  largely  a  spiritual 
sin.  They  are  united  by  the  characteristic  which  is  common 
to  both  of  a  certain  inertness,  a  certain  indolence,  whether 
of  flesh  or  spirit,  which  tempts  a  man  to  sink  down  into 
carelessness  and  indolence,  and  a  gloomy  stagnation  of 
thought  and  will,  and  a  feeling,  from  which  he  finds  it  diffi- 
cult, if  not  impossible,  to  rise."  On  the  other  hand,  sloth  is 
bodily  laziness,  lukewarmness,  indifference.  In  both  there  is 
a  desire  to  get  through  the  world  with  as  little  trouble  as 
possible,  and  never  to  make  a  stand  for  principle  or  accept 
responsibility.  Sloth  or  accidie  is  a  very  common  and 
serious  sin  in  our  national  hfe  to-day,  and  the  cause  of  much 
evil  in  the  body  politic.  People  "don't  care,"  "don't  want 
to  be  bothered,"  "besides  it's  no  use."  How  often  we  hear 
this !    Sins  of  omission,  so  common,  so  little  thought  of,  and 

•I  Cor.  8:13. 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  95 

so  warned  against  by  our  Lord,  also  come  largely  from  this 
root  sin. 

"The  three  great  sins  of  the  flesh — Sloth,  Gluttony,  and 
Lust — are  alike  in  this,  that  they  all  three  are  the  abuse  of 
the  innocent  and  legitimate  desires  and  feelings  of  the  body. 
So  the  Catechism  speaks  of  them  as  'the  sinful  lusts  of  the 
flesh,'  implying  what  is  indeed  the  fact,  that  there  are  lusts 
and  desires  which  are  not  sinful.  The  capital  sin  of  Gluttony 
is  the  giving  rein  to  those  innocent  desires  for  food  or  drink." 
Fasting  is  the  weapon  to  combat  this  sin,  and  temperance 
the  great  virtue  to  cultivate. 

The  Latin  word  for  Lust  is  luxuria,  or  excess,  and  seems 
to  suggest  the  peril  of  the  relaxing  and  softening  of  the 
sternness  and  simplicity  which  becomes  the  Christian  life. 
The  body  becomes  the  master  instead  of  the  servant.  The 
weapons  to  combat  this  are  avoidance  of  tem.ptation  in  bad 
books,  bad  plays  and  bad  companions  and  "the  resolute 
striving  and  praying  for  that  pure  love  of  God  and  man,  with 
which  no  impure  affection  can  co-exist.  And  the  other 
weapon  is  that  which  is  fitted  for  no  other  sin,  the  weapon  of 
instant  and  precipitate  flight.  It  is  the  one  sin  with  which 
we  can  neither  argue  nor  parley,  from  the  very  thought  of 
which  we  are  safest  if  we  simply  turn  and  flee." 

This  list  of  seven  capital  or  root  sins  "sums  up  and 
specifies  the  hostile  forces  which  are  marshalled  in  dread 
array  under  the  banner  of  the  three  great  enemies  of  the 
soul  against  whom  we  declared  war  in  the  vows  of  our  Bap- 
tism." ^  They  are  seven  powerful  forces  of  evil,  but  the 
forces  of  good  are  more  powerful,  and  in  the  strength  of 
the  seven  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit  received  in  Confirmation 
we  can  win  the  victory  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Let 
us  stir  up  the  gift  within  us  by  the  laying  on  of  hands. 

Second. — I  promised  to  "believe  all  the  Articles  of  the 
Christian  Faith"  as  contained  in  the  Apostles  Creed. ^^     A 

»  Sin.— H.  V.  S.  Eck. 
"  Baptismal   Service. 


96  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

Catholic  Christian  cannot  say,  "It  makes  no  difference  what 
I  believe."  He  is  pledged  to  believe  certain  things ;  he  is  in 
duty  bound  to  understand  what  these  things  are,  his  sponsors 
are  pledged  to  see  he  is  taught  them,  and  the  Church  is 
pledged  to  teach  him.  He  learns  something  when  he  is 
taught  his  Catechism,  and  he  learns  more  at  his  Confirma- 
tion, but  this  is  intended  to  be  but  the  beginning  of  his  educa- 
tion. In  other  things  his  education  does  not  end  at  twelve 
years. 

The  means  for  our  Christian  education  are  the  Catechism, 

sermons,  and  the  reading  of  good,  sound  religious  books, 

not  the  light,  passing,  religious  literature  of  the  day,  but 

books  by  the  leaders  of  the  Church,  past  and  present,  who 
have  seen  the  heavenly  vision  and  believe  in  the  Church 

and  the  Sacraments.  "And  do  you  say :"  says  Bishop  Gore, 
"but  I  am  not  a  theologian.  I  am  not  capable  of  these  diffi- 
cult tasks  of  thinking.  I  am  not  even  thinking  of  being  a 
clergyman  or  a  religious  teacher.  I  reply:  you  or  I  may 
not  have  the  gifts  of  a  leader  of  thought ;  we  may  not  have 
the  vocation  of  an  Athanasius  or  an  Augustine,  or  a  Hooker, 
or  a  Westcott.  But  the  thoughts  of  all  great  thinkers  need 
to  be  apprehended  and  assimilated  by  the  ordinary  man, 
if  they  are  not  to  lose  their  effect.  That  is  what  St.  Paul 
seems  to  claim.  He  seems  to  claim  that  all  the  Corinthian, 
or  Colossian,  or  Roman,  or  Galatian  Christians  should  set 
their  minds  to  w^ork,  and  learn  not  only  what  they  believe, 
but  why  they  must  assert  what  they  assert  or  reject  what 
they  reject.  So  I  seem  to  see  in  the  Christianity  of  the 
period  of  the  Gnostic  controversy  and  in  the  earlier  period 
of  the  councils,  that,  under  the  leadership  of  great  thinkers, 
there  formed  itself  a  corporate  mind  of  the  church.  The 
general  body  of  Christians  grew  to  appreciate  the  intellec- 
tual struggle,  and  to  know,  with,  of  course,  varying  degrees 
of  intelligence,  what  they  were  affirming  and  what  they  were 
repudiating.     It  is  such  a  corporate  Christian  philosophy — 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  xVlEMBERSHlP  97 

such  principles  of  thought  held  in  common  by  the   whole 
body — that  we  need  to-day  and  seem  sorely  to  lack."  ^^ 

Then,  whether  we  like  it  or  not,  the  Church  calls  on  us 
"to  hear  sermons,"  and  this  should  mean  not  only  on  Sun- 
days but  special  courses  on  week  days  in  Ivcnt.  Unfortu- 
nately in  many  parishes  the  latter  have  degenerated  into 
lectures  on  social  problems  or  on  the  topics  of  the  day, 
instead  of  instructions  in  the  Christian  faith,  and,  as  some 
one  has  said,  "Half  of  the  sermons  one  hears  on  Sundays, 
even  from  men  who  hold  the  Faith,  could  be  preached  by 
sectarians,  and  one- third  of  them  by  Unitarians."  They 
have  no  Sacramental  atmosphere  or  teaching.  The  Chris- 
tian year  is  almost  ignored,  and  the  Collect,  Epistle,  and 
Gospel  that  strike  the  keynote  for  the  week  not  taken  into 
account  at  all.  Read  the  sermons  by  great  preachers  like 
Liddon,  lUingworth,  Scott-Holland,  Bishop  Paget  of  Ox- 
ford, Figgis,  and  others,  and  see  how  different  was  their 
preaching.  A  leading  layman  said  quite  recently,  "When 
the  Rector  preaches  on  social,  political  and  industrial  prob- 
lems, and  tells  us  how  to  settle  them,  not  by  enunciating 
fundamental  principles  but  advocating  certain  plans,  I  be- 
come a  critic.  I  am  probably  better  fitted  than  he  to  deal 
with  these  questions.  But  when  he  preaches  the  faith  of  the 
Gospel,  he  speaks  with  authority  and  as  an  expert,  and  I 
listen  with  respect."  Bishop  Fisk  tells  of  asking  a  college 
student  what  he  would  suggest  his  preaching  about  to  the 
University.  The  answer  was:  "Suppose  for  a  change  you 
give  us  some  straight  Christianity ;  we  get  mighty  little  of  it 
from  the  college  preachers." 

"Tell  me  the  old,  old  story 
Of  unseen  things  above, 
Of  Jesus  and  His  glory, 
Of  Jesus  and  His  Love." 

This  is  what  men  and  women  are  asking  for. 

**  Orders  aad  Unity. — C.  Gore. 


98  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

We  forget  sometimes  how  different  our  Lord's  preaching 
was  from  that  of  the  modern  preacher  of  righteousness.  He 
struck  at  the  root  of  evil  in  human  character,  and  started  re- 
form there  in  the  individual  Hfe.  His  Apostles  did  the  same. 
They  did  not,  for  example,  denounce  human  slavery.  They 
preached  the  Gospel,  and  gradually,  as  the  conscience  of 
the  brotherhood  became  enlightened  and  aroused,  they  ended 
it ;  but  it  took  centuries  to  do  it.  The  Tractarians,  it  has 
been  said,  did  not  so  much  preach  and  urge  Sacramental 
confession,  as  they  preached  repentance,  and  set  forth  in 
sermon,  symbol  and  Sacrament,  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Saviour 
of  men ;  and  men  and  women  believed  and  came  to  Jesus  to 
be  healed  and  fed.  And  when  they  found  Him  they  fell 
down  and  worshipped  Him,  and  opened  their  treasures  and 
presented  unto  Him  gifts :  gold  and  frankincense  and 
myrrh.  Not  only  at  His  altars  did  they  offer  their  gifts, 
but  they  carried  them  to  the  poor,  and  the  outcast. 
Religious  Orders  sprang  up,  laymen  from  the  Univer- 
sities went  and  lived  in  the  slums  of  London  to  share  their 
gifts  with  the  less  fortunate,  while  Fathers  Lowder, 
Makonichie,  Dolling  and  Stanton  set  forth  "the  praise  of 
God  in  all  its  splendour"  in  the  churches.  Here  the  poor 
could  get  away  from  their  drab  and  often  squalid  environ- 
ment, and  in  the  light,  color,  fragrance,  and  beauty  of 
Catholic  worship  be  lifted  up  into  the  presence  of  God.  The 
cathedrals  of  Europe  are  the  palaces  of  the  poor.  That  is 
why  the  superman  trained  his  guns  on  them. 

Third. — I  promised  "to  keep  God's  holy  will  and  command- 
ments, and  walk  in  the  same  all  the  days  of  my  life."  Re- 
nounce— believe — do.  Christian  life  is  positive,  not  nega- 
tive. It  is  not  merely  avoiding  evil,  although  questions  for 
self-examination  in  many  manuals  of  devotion  would  lead 
one  to  think  so.  These  are  probably  responsible  for  the  idea 
that  if  we  do  not  do,  say,  or  think  anything  very  wrong, 


OBIvIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  99 

and  can  answer  all  the  questions,  we  are  in  a  satisfactory 
spiritual  state.     Nothing  could  be  more  misleading. 

To  conquer  our  self-will  and  strive  to  know  and  do  God's 
will,  making  it  the  law  of  our  life,  to  keep  His  command- 
ments— our  duty  to  God  and  to  our  neighbor  as  taught  us 
in  the  Catechism — and  to  walk  in  the  same  all  the  days  of 
our  life;  this,  a  life  of  faith  and  love,  finding  its  nourish- 
ment and  joy  in  communion  with  God  in  prayer  and  sacra- 
ment and  expressing  itself  in  service,  this  is  what  our  re- 
nunciation and  our  belief  in  the  Catholic  Faith  should  lead 
to,  and  this  is  our  obligation  as  members  of  the  Body  of 
Christ. 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP 

DUTY  TO  GOD 

Question.    What  is  thy  duty  towards  God? 

Answer.  My  duty  towards  God  is  To  believe  in  him,  to  fear  him, 
And  to  love  him  with  all  my  heart,  with  all  my  mind,  with  all  my 
soul,  and  with  all  my  strength ;  To  worship  him,  to  give  him  thanks : 
To  put  my  whole  trust  in  him,  to  call  upon  him :  To  honour  his 
holy  Name  and  his  Word :  And  to  serve  him  truly  all  the  days  of 
my  life. — The  Catechism,  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

The  Catechism  tells  us  our  first  duty  as  members  of  the 
church  is  to  God.  And  that  duty  is  to  believe  in  Him,  to 
fear  or  reverence  Him,  to  love,  trust,  worship,  honor,  and 
pray  to  Him,  and  to  serve  Him  all  the  days  of  our  life ;  and 
the  Church  provides  us  with  the  means  to  do  this. 

Still  day — the  first  day  of  the  week — is  set  apart  by  the 
Christian  Church  as  the  Lord's  Day  for  this  purpose.  It  is 
not  the  Jewish  Sabbath  transferred  from  the  seventh  to  the 
first  day.  It  is  the  weekly  memorial  of  the  resurrection,  a 
day  of  joy  and  gladness,  of  obligation  and  privilege.  We 
keep  this  day  and  do  not  keep  the  Jewish  Sabbath  on  the 
authority  of  the  Church.  A  sect  of  the  Baptists,  realizing 
this  and  repudiating  Church  authority,  keeps  the  seventh 
day,  but  even  they  are  not  consistent  Protestants,  for  they 
accept  the  Bible,  and  there  is  no  authority  for  the  Bible  as 
the  inspired  word  of  God  but  the  authority  of  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church. 

There  are  two  things  to  remember  about  Sunday.  First, 
remember  it  is  the  Lord's  Day;  therefore,  it  is  our 
duty  to  go  to  His  house,  "to  set  forth  His  most  worthy 

lOO 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  101 

praise,  to  hear  His  most  holy  Word,  and  to  ask  those  things 
which  are  requisite  and  necessary,  as  well  for  the  body  as  the 
soul."  But  cannot  I  do  this  at  home?  we  are  often  asked. 
I  would  answer  by  another  question.  Do  you  do  it?  The 
only  persons  I  know  who  do  are  the  "Shut-Ins,"  who  went 
to  Church  when  they  could  and  now  feel  deeply  being 
deprived  of  the  privilege.  We  sometimes  forget  that  the 
life  we  entered  upon  at  baptism  is  a  family  life,  and  we  have 
a  duty  to  our  Father  and  the  other  members  of  the  family. 
Would  a  man  be  considered  a  good  son  who  never  went  to 
his  father's  house,  never  sat  at  the  family  table  or  took  part 
in  the  family  life,  and  said,  "I  live  a  good  life,  and  that  is 
all  my  father  should  expect  of  me?"  "No,"  we  should  say, 
"such  a  man  does  not  honor  and  love  his  father."  And  Chris- 
tian people  who  do  not  go  to  church  on  Sunday  fail  to  honor 
their  heavenly  Father,  and  if  they  say  the  family  prayer, 
they  do  not  strive  to  live  as  they  pray.  The  object  in  church- 
going  is  not  to  hear  a  sermon  or  enjoy  the  music,  but  to 
honor  Almighty  God.  Not  to  get  but  to  give.  The  Name 
of  God  is  being  spoken  against  because  the  children  of  God 
do  not  hallow  Elis  Name.  "Look  at  your  empty  churches 
and  your  neglected  Sacraments.  The  Church  is  dead,"  the 
world  says. 

To  bear  witness  to  our  faith,  to  publicly  honor  God,  and 
"set  forth  His  most  worthy  praise"  in  public  worship  is  our 
first  duty  on  Sunday,  and  the  great  act  of  Christian  worship 
is  the  Lord's  own  service,  the  Holy  Eucharist.  To  oiler  this 
Holy  Sacrifice  every  Lord's  Day  is  "our  bounden  duty  and 
service."  Here  we  enter  the  courts  of  heaven  and  join 
"with  angels  and  archangels,  and  all  the  company  of  heaven" 
in  the  eternal  Ter  Sanctus;  here  the  Lamb  that  was  slain 
offers  to  the  Father  the  one  "full,  perfect,  and  sufficient 
Sacrifice,  oblation,  and  satisfaction  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world."  Here  we  can  join  in  offering  that  Sacrifice,  and 
have  part  in  that  great  oblation  and  intercession.    From  the 


102  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

beginning  the  Eucharist  was  the  great  common  act  of  wor- 
ship offered  by  the  Church  to  Almighty  God  every  Lord's 
Day,  at  least,  at  which  every  baptized  person  was  present, 
if  possible.  A  Catholic  cannot  and  dees  not  say  I  can  wor- 
ship God  just  as  well  at  home,  nor  does  he  stay  away  from 
church  because  he  does  not  like  the  Rector,  or  because  some 
member  of  the  congregation  has  offended  him. 

Then  we  should  hear  God's  most  holy  word  in  Scripture 
lessons,  psalms,  hymns  and  sermons.  He  speaks  to  us  and 
we  speak  to  Him.  What  may  we  not  miss  that  He  has  to 
say  to  us  if  we  stay  away  from  the  services  of  the  Church. 
And  last  Vv^e  may  think  of  ourselves  and  ask  "those  things 
which  are  requisite  and  necessary,  as  well  for  the  body  as 
the  soul." 

The  second  thing  to  remember  about  Sunday  is  to  be  "in 
the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's  Day.'"  We  get  no  revelations  on 
the  Lord's  Day  because  we  are  not  in  the  Spirit.  What  may 
I  do  on  Sunday,  what  ought  I  not  to  do  ?  conscientious  people 
sometimes  ask.  The  answer  is.  Remember  the  day  is  set 
apart  as  the  Lord's  Day,  and  do  what  is  in  accordance  with 
the  spirit  of  the  day.  Seek  the  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  The  Christian  Church,  beyond  teaching  our 
obligation  to  go  to  church  and  to  offer  the  Holy  Sacri- 
fice, has  given  us  no  definite  rules  for  keeping  Sunday.  The 
New  Covenant  differs  from  the  Old  in  that  it  gives  us 
principles  to  guide  us  rather  than  rules  and  regulations  to 
follow.  The  freedom  of  the  Gospel  calls  for  a  free-will 
offering — our  selves,  our  time,  and  our  thought.  We  are 
put  on  our  honor.  There  are  some  general  principles,  how- 
ever, that  should  guide  us.  First  the  day  should  be  different 
from  other  days.  To  go  to  places  of  amusement,  the  theatre, 
the  movies,  etc.,  to  play  bridge,  to  do  unnecessary  work,  all 
this  should  be  avoided.  What  is  the  difference  between 
playing  bridge  and  playing  golf,  tennis,  or  base  ball,  some 
may  ask?    This  is  hard  to  define,  yet  we  feel  the  spirit  is 

iRcv.  1:10. 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  103 

different.  The  same  may  be  said  of  tournaments  and  other 
amusements  where  the  motive  is  not  purely  relaxation. 
There  is  the  same  difference  bet  wen  knitting  on  Sunday  that 
quiets  the  nerves  and  helps  one  to  think,  and  dressmaking 
or  doing  the  family  mending;  between  dinner  parties  and 
simple  Sunday  night  suppers  with  a  few  friends.  The  spirit 
of  the  day  should  be  simple  and  joyous,  not  riotous,  and 
should  be  different  from  other  days. 

Second,  we  should  avoid  giving  unnecessary  work  to 
others,  and  depriving  them  of  their  Sunday's  rest  and  relax- 
ation. Picture  galleries  and  museums  that  require  few 
attendants  should,  I  think,  be  open  and  free  Sunday  after- 
noons, especially  in  winter,  and  free  concerts  Sunday  after- 
noons and  evenings  we  will  do  well  to  encourage,  but  we 
should  strongly  oppose  any  Sunday  amusements  for  money. 
Danger  lies  there.  In  France  and  Germany  before  the  war, 
in  almost  every  church  and  cathedral,  notices  were  posted 
of  meetings  of  Sunday  societies,  and  laws  were  being  passed 
forbidding  Sunday  work.  Working  people  were  trying  to 
get  back  their  Sundays.  Let  them  hold  on  here  and  not  be 
exploited  by  amusement  money  makers.  Amusement,  too, 
should  not  fill  most  of  the  day ;  going  to  church  for  half 
an  hour  Sunday  morning,  and  taking  all  the  rest  of  the  day 
for  our  own  pleasure,  is  hardly  giving  the  Lord  Plis  due. 

Third,  we  should  have  time  to  be  quiet  and  alone,  time  to 
read  the  Bible,  time  to  read  a  good  religious  book,  and  time 
to  think.  Fifty  years  ago  everyone  had  a  "Sunday  book," 
and  the  custom  should  be  revived.  After  that  we  may  do  some 
other  good,  solid  reading,  not  religious,  which  we  have  not 
been  able  to  do  during  the  week.  In  a  family  there  should 
be  also  the  children's  hour.  It  is  hardly  possible  in  our 
modern  life  to  have  family  prayers,  but  it  is  possible  to  have 
the  children's  hour  so  charmingly  described  by  Longfellow. 
On  Sunday  this  consisted  in  reading  from  the  Bible  and  from 
a  Sunday  book,  and  some  hymns. 


104  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

If  we  are  to  save  our  country  from  the  evils  that  threaten 
us,  we  must  go  back  to  simpler  living,  we  must  revive  family 
life,  and  we  must  keep  Sunday  as  the  Lord's  Day  and  in  His 
spirit.     It  is  as  true  of  nations  as  it  is  of  individuals  that 

"A  Sunday  well  spent 
Brings  a  week  of  content, 
And  a  strength  for  the  toils  of  the  morrow, 
But  a  Sunday  profane, 
Whatsoever  the  gain, 
Is  a  sure  forerunner  of  sorrow." 

The  Christian  Year.  To  love  God  and  to  worship  and 
serve  Him  must,  and  does,  produce  a  certain  type  of  char- 
acter, and  this,  the  object  of  all  spiritual  exercises  and  knowl- 
edge, is  not  for  self-satisfaction  but  for  the  glory  of  God.  A 
Catholic  religion  aims  to  produce  a  Catholic  character,  a 
well-balanced  development  of  the  whole  man,  and  by  the 
Christian  Year  the  Church  seeks  to  have  her  children  live 
over  the  life  of  Jesus,  and  learn  afresh,  year  by  year,  with 
ever  deeper  meaning,  the  great  facts  of  the  Faith,  not  over 
emphasizing  or  neglecting  any  doctrine. 

The  year  opens  with  Advent  and  the  call,  "Repent  ye ;  for 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  at  hand ;"  and  as  we  look  forward 
to  Christmas,  and  the  coming  of  our  Lord  in  great  humility 
in  our  Christmas  Communion,  we  are  reminded  that  He  \n\\\ 
come  again  one  day  in  power  and  great  glory  to  judge  the 
world,  and  that  we  should  prepare  to  micet  Him.  Advent 
leads  on  to  Christmas  and  the  Epiphany  season  with  the 
ever  wonderful  message  of  the  Incarnation  and  its  mani- 
festations. 

Then  we  pass  on,  as  it  were,  through  a  gentle  twilight, 
when  alleluias  cease  and  the  Church  puts  on  her  purple  robes, 
to  Ash  Wednesday,  a  day  of  penitence,  fasting  and  prayer, 
and  the  beginning  of  Lent.  During  the  forty  days  of  Lent 
"the  Church  requires  such  a  measure  of  abstinence  as  is  more 
especially  suited  to  extraordinary  acts  and  exercises  of  devo- 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  105 

tion."  We  are  called  to  practice  self  denial  in  food  and 
amusements,  giving  up  for  a  time  lawful  pleasures,  first,  that 
they  may  not  get  a  hold  upon  us  and  become  our  masters ; 
second,  that  we  may  cultivate  our  spiritual  nature  and  learn 
to  know  God ;  and  third,  that  we  may  give  the  time  and 
money  we  save  to  God.  We  are  to  go  into  training  to  win 
our  race,  we  are  reminded  on  Septuagesima  Sunday ; 
we  are  to  practice  in  a  greater  degree  than  at  other  times 
the  three  notable  duties :  almsgiving,  fasting  and  prayer 

Almsgiving  covers  what  we  give  to  the  support  of  the 
Church  and  to  Missions  as  well  as  to  charities,  helping  the 
souls  as  well  as  the  bodies  of  men.  The  Jews  were  com- 
manded to  give  one-tenth  of  their  income  to  God ;  this  was 
their  tax;  but  beside  this  they  gave  thank  offerings,  sin 
offerings  and  other  free  will  offerings.  Christians  are  not 
taxed;  they  are  put  on  their  honor.  Lent  calls  for  more 
time  to  be  given  to  prayer,  public  and  private,  especially 
more  frequent  attendance  at  the  Holy  Communion.  It  is 
often  forgotten  that  our  Lord  ranks  fasting  with  prayer 
and  almsgiving  as  of  equal  importance.  He  tells  us  not  to 
fast  with  a  sad  countenance — "the  Lord  loveth  a  cheerful 
giver;" — our  self-denial  should  be  a  glad  offering.  Friday 
is  the  weekly  memorial  of  the  Lord's  death,  and  the  Prayer 
Book  bids  us  keep  all  Fridays  in  the  year  except  Christmas 
Day  as  days  of  abstinence,  not  abstinence  from  worldly 
pleasures  as  in  Lent,  but  abstinence  from  flesh  food — meat. 
Meat,  it  will  be  recalled,  was  at  one  time,  and  still  is  in  some 
places,  a  luxury.  It  was  not,  however,  so  much  self-denial, 
as  to  make  the  day  different,  to  make  us  remember  the  day, 
that  the  rule  was  made.  The  Irish  servant's  answer  to  his 
master  who  said  he  did  not  keep  the  Friday  fast  because 
he  liked  fish  better  than  meat  is  worth  remembering.  "The 
more  shame  to  you,  Sir,  when  the  Lord  has  made  it  so  aisy 
for  you,"  he  said. 

Fasting  adds  efficacy  to  prayer,  and  the  Puritans,  who  did 


106  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

not,  like  their  descendants,  eliminate  fasting  from  their  reli- 
gion, emphasized  this.  Fasting  Communions  have  been  the 
rule  in  the  Church,  East  and  West,  from  the  earliest  times. 
The  Anglican  Church  does  not  enforce  this  rule,  but  did 
not  annul  it  at  the  Reformation,  and  it  has  been  observed 
by  many  devout  persons  in  the  Church  of  England  ever  since 
the  Reformation,  and  long  before  the  Oxford  Movement 
revived  Cathohc  practices.  When  a  rule  like  the  Friday 
fast  or  the  fast  before  Communion  becomes  a  universal  rule 
of  the  Church,  it  is  because  it  meets  some  need,  has  some 
spiritual  value,  and  tends  to  develop  a  certain  type  of  char- 
acter. It  is  not  local;  it  is  Catholic,  and  those  who  really 
believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  hear  the  Church. 

Lent  reaches  its  climax  in  the  agony  and  darkness  of 
Calvary  on  Good  Friday,  the  only  day  in  the  year  when  the 
Church  does  not  offer  the  great  "sacrifice  of  praise  and 
thanksgiving."  The  calm  of  Holy  Saturday  follows  Good 
Friday  and  breaks  into  the  glory  of  Easter  Day,  "the  Queen 
of  Feasts,"  and,  like  the  holy  women  of  old,  we  go  forth  in 
the  early  morning  to  find  the  risen  Lord  amid  the  flowers  of 
the  garden  and  in  the  quiet  intimate  joy  of  personal  com- 
munion. "Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Mary,"  and  she  "saith  unto 
Him,  Rabboni."  J^.iary  might  not  touch  His  sacred  risen 
Body,  but  we  may  touch  Him  and  receive  His  Body,  because 
He  has  now  ascended,  as  He  said  He  would  on  that  first 
Easter  Day,  "unto  My  Father,  and  your  Father ;  and  to  My 
Go,  and  your  God."  ^ 

Easter  is  pre-eminently  the  Lord's  Day.  All  the  Sundays 
of  the  year  reach  their  climax  on  this  Day  of  Days,  and  the 
Catholic  Church  throughout  the  world  puts  on  her  festal 
robes,  and,  with  the  best  she  has  to  give  of  art  and  music, 
offers  to  Almighty  God  with  triumphant  gladness  her  cor- 
porate worship  and  thanksgiving  from  the  glowing  hearts 
of   the  early   communicants.     This  Easter  joy  lingers  on 

*St.  John  20:16,  17. 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  107 

during  the  great  forty  days  to  Ascension  Day,  when  we 
contemplate  our  Lord  carrying  our  human  nature  to  the  right 
hand  of  God.  During  the  following  days,  while  the  Church 
waits  and  watches  in  expectation  of  the  promised  Comforter, 
the  Paraclete,  the  sacred  humanity  was  being  glorified  and 
receiving  new  powers,  which  burst  into  flame  on  Whitsunday, 
and  the  Christian  year  of  fast  and  festival  ends  with  the 
Vision  of  the  Holy  Trinity  and  a  reminder  that  hereunto 
we  are  called  in  our  baptism.  Then  the  Church  takes  off 
her  festal  robes,  puts  away  for  a  time  her  purple,  puts  on  her 
fresh  green  dress,  and  we  settle  down  quietly  to  common 
everyday  life  to  grow. 

Special  days  commemorating  events  in  the  life  of  our 
Lord,  of  His  blessed  Mother  and  of  other  Saints,  however, 
cover  the  whole  year,  lighting  up  the  Trinity  season  as  well 
as  the  other  seasons.  It  is  curious  that  people  are  willing  to 
celebrate  days  commemorating  events  in  the  life  of  the 
nation,  and  keep  the  birthdays  of  the  nation's  heroes,  but 
object  to  keeping  the  Christian  year  and  remembering  the 
Saints,  the  Christian  heroes,  who  have  been  the  choice 
vessels  of  God's  grace,  "and  the  lights  of  the  world  in  their 
several  generations."  On  the  Feast  of  the  Annunciation 
(March  25th),  for  example,  we  celebrate  the  greatest  event 
in  the  history  of  the  world — the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of 
God.  The  Circumcision  (part  of  the  Christmas  Festival), 
the  Purification  (February  2d),  commonly  called  Candlemas 
and  the  Feast  of  the  Transfiguration  (August  6th),  all  mark 
events  in  the  life  of  our  Lord.  The  Feast  of  the  Trans- 
figuration was  restored  to  us  in  the  last  revision  of  our 
Prayer  Book,  and  we  may  hope  another  revision  will  restore 
the  beautiful  feast  of  the  Visitation,  commemorating  the 
visit  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  to  her  cousin  Elizabeth,  when 
St.  John  the  Baptist  leaped  in  the  womb  to  greet  his  unborn 
Lord,  and  Mary  sang  her  Magnificat.* 

•  St.  Luke  1:39-54. 


108  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

Four  times  a  year  on  the  Ember  Days  the  Church  calls 
us  to  fast  and  pray  for  our  clergy,  especially  those  about 
to  be  ordained,  and  the  Rogation  Days  remind  us  that  God 
gives  us  our  daily  bread,  and  we  pray  Him  to  bless  the  labors 
of  the  husbandmen. 

The  Saints'  Days  gradually  grew  so  numerous  that  the 
great  events  of  the  Christian  Year  were  being  overshadowed ; 
so  in  the  revision  of  the  kalendar  the  Church  of  England 
at  the  Reformation  omitted  most  of  these  days,  but  the 
names  of  these  Saints  were  printed  in  the  English  kalendar 
in  black  letters  on  their  proper  day,  while  the  great  Saints 
and  founders  of  the  Church  still  have  days  kept  by  us  in 
their  honor,  with  special  Collect,  Epistle  and  Gospel,  and 
these  are  printed  in  the  kalendar  in  the  English  Prayer 
Book  in  red  letters.  From  this  the  Saints  came  to  be  called 
"red  letter"  and  "black  letter"  Saints,  and  many  people 
to-day  speak  of  "red  letter  days"  who  have  no  idea  of  the 
origin  of  this  designation  for  specially  marked  and  joyous 
days. 

On  September  twenty-ninth  we  keep  the  Feast  of  the  Holy 
Angels,  those  bright  and  glorious  Spirits  so  near  to  us,  and 
directing  us  and  the  course  of  the  world  so  much  more  than 
we  realize. 

"Stars  of  the  morning,  so  gloriously  bright, 
Filled  with  celestial  splendor  and  light, 
These  that,  where  night  never  followeth  day, 
Raise  the  "Thrice  Holy"  song  ever  and  aye. 

"These  are  Thy  ministers,  these  dost  Thou  own, 
God  of  Sabaoth,  the  nearest  Thy  throne ; 
These  are  Thy  messengers,  these  dost  Thou  send, 
Help  of  the  helpless  ones!  man  to  defend. 

"These  keep  the  guard  amid  Salem's  dear  bowers, 
Thrones,   Principalities,   Virtues,   and   Powers, 
Where,  with  the  living  Ones,  mystical  Four, 
Cherubim,  Seraphim  bow  and  adore. 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  109 

"Still  let  them  succor  us ;  still  let  them  fight, 
Lord  of  angelic  hosts,  battling  for  right; 
Till,  where  their  anthems  they  ceaselessly  pour, 
We  with  the  angels  may  bow  and  adore."  * 

Through  the  month  of  October  this  and  other  ''angelic 
songs  are  swelling/'  and  these  and  the  All  i\ngels  Collect 
keep  before  us  the  thought  of  the  Holy  Angels,  to  which 
the  month  of  October  has  been  dedicated  for  m.any  centuries. 

November  opens  with  the  beautiful  festival  of  All  Saints, 
which  commemorates  that  "great  multitude  which  no  man 
could  number,"  many  of  whose  names  and  deeds  we  do  not 
know,  who  have  come  "out  of  great  tribulation,  and  have 
washed  their  robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb:  Therefore  are  they  before  the  throne  of  God, 
and  serve  Him  day  and  night  in  His  temple."  On  the  next 
day.  All  Souls,  we  remember  our  own  blessed  dead,  who 
rest  from  their  labors,  and  are  being  purified  and  made 
perfect.  During  the  month  there  are  frequent  Requiems, 
and  the  hymns  speak  of  the  Saints,  and  of  Jerusalem  the 
Golden,  Paradise,  the  Resurrection  morning  when  soul  and 
body  meet  again,  and  what  the  joy  and  the  glory  shall  be 
when  those  endless  Sabbaths  the  blessed  ones  see. 

This  leads  on  to  Advent  again  with  its  call  to  awake,  arise 
and  repent ;  the  second  and  third  Sunday  telling  of  judgment, 
and  the  fourth  bidding  us  "Rejoice,  the  Lord  is  at  hand." 
The  Dies  Irae  is  almost  as  much  associated  with  the  second 
Sunday  in  Advent  as  in  the  Veni  Emmanuel  with  the  fourth, 
and  the  Adeste  Fideles  as  the  first  note  of  Christmas.  The 
Rector  of  a  large  city  parish,  and  a  well  knov;n  preacher, 
who  had  his  music  lists  printed  once  a  month,  when  asked 
how  he  could  select  the  hymns  a  month  ahead,  not  knowing 
what  he  would  preach  about,  replied  that  the  hymns  were 
chosen  proper  to  the  day,  as  was  his  Sunday  morning  sermon. 

*  It  seems  a  pity  that  this  beautiful  hymn  should  be  sung  only  on  one  Sunday 
or  in  one  month  of  the  year.     It  is  quite   a  suitable  general  hymn, 

8 


110  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

although  the  text  was  by  no  means  always  taken  from  the 
Epistle  or  Gospel.  The  same  Rector  in  preaching  an  Ordi- 
nation sermon,  after  charging  the  young  deacon,  about  to 
be  made  a  priest,  never  to  neglect  his  morning  meditation, 
and  to  keep  his  mornings  for  reading  and  study,  never  giving 
less  than  two  hours  a  day  to  the  latter,  advised  him  for  at 
least  the  first  two  years  of  his  ministry  to  preach  on  the 
Gospel  for  the  day,  unless  a  Saint's  Day  came  in  the  octave, 
when  that  Gospel  might  be  used.  In  this  way,  he  told  the 
young  priest,  he  would  familiarize  himself  with  the  litur- 
gical Gospels  and  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  Year.  It  was 
this  harmony  of  color,  hymns,  music  and  sermon  that  made 
the  services  in  this  parish  so  helpful  and  satisfying,  although 
many  who  noted  the  result  did  not  know  the  reason. 

There  are  many  things  to-day  tending  to  interfere  with  the 
proper  observance  of  the  Christian  Year,  and  one  is  the 
frequent  requests  coming  to  the  clergy  to  preach  on  a  certain 
topic  on  a  certain  Sunday.  We  have  Temperance  Sunday, 
Civil  Service  Sunday,  and  many  other  kinds  of  Sundays 
asked  for.  These  requests  are  often  embarrassing  to  Rec- 
tors in  small  towns  where  a  majority  of  the  congregation 
have  not  been  accustomed  to  keep  the  Christian  Year,  and 
do  not  want  the  requests  ignored.  A  very  wise  Rector  in 
one  such  parish  said  he  did  ignore  many  requests,  but  when 
one  came  from  recognized  authorities  or  from  an  organiza- 
tion whose  request  it  would  seem  discourteous  to  ignore,  he 
introduced  some  thoughts  on  the  topic  in  his  ordinary  sermon 
for  the  day,  which  he  had  always  found  he  could  do  without 
difficulty,  and  when  it  served  his  purpose,  as  when  "Mother's 
Day"  came  on  Whitsunday,  he  used  the  topic,  preaching  on 
our  Mother  the  Church  and  the  sanctification  of  human 
relations  by  the  Church  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  thus  leading  the 
thoughts  in  the  minds  of  the  people  along  right  lines. 

The  Christian  Year  is  a  real  means  of  grace  provided  for 
us  by  the  Church,  that  year  by  year  we  may  grow  in  the 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  111 

knowledge  and  love  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ, 
developing  well  rounded  Christian  lives  for  the  glory  of 
God  and  the  edification  of  the  Body  of  Christ. 

The  Bible.  The  Church  declares  the  Bible  to  be  the  Word 
of  God,  and  the  Catechism  tells  us  our  duty  is  to  honor  His 
Holy  Name  and  His  Word.  Fifty  years  ago  "the  Bible  and 
the  Bible  only  was  "the  religion  of  Protestants."  "The  old 
Protestant  orthodoxy,"  says  Bishop  Gore,  "stood  by  the 
sole  and  final  authority  of  the  Bible  as  the  infallible  word 
of  God.  But  it  is  exactly  this  position  of  the  Bible  which 
modern  knowledge  is  making  more  and  more  impossible.  It 
is  not  only  that  the  simple  infallibility  of  the  record  is  com- 
pletely undermined,  but  it  has  become  evident  that  the  Bible 
cannot  stand  alone.  *  *  *  You  can  very  rightly  exalt 
the  canon  of  Scripture,  as  the  church  did,  as  giving  the 
original  and  authentic  form  of  the  apostolic  preaching;  and 
you  can  make  it  the  basis  and  standard  of  doctrine.  But  you 
cannot  reasonably  isolate  the  New  Testament  from  the  creed 
or  the  episcopal  successions,  and  assert  the  authority  of  the 
one,  while  you  repudiate  that  of  the  others :  or  in  particular 
assert  the  authority  of  the  first  the  while  you  repudiate  that 
of  the  third.  *  *  *  Now  it  is  plain  that  there  are  indi- 
vidual thinkers  and  scholars  who  are  seeking  to  meet  this 
serious  situation  in  the  true  way,  by  going  back  to  the  first 
principles,  and  striving  to  recover  and  restate  the  Chris- 
tianity which  is  true  and  permanent ;  but  unless  I  am  very 
much  mistaken,  the  general  tendency  of  Protestant  Chris- 
tians, including  the  ministers  and  teachers  of  religion,  is  to 
seek  refuge  from  the  difficulties  of  thought  in  the  oppor- 
tunities of  philanthropic  or  evangelistic  action.  'To  evan- 
gelize the  masses,'  'to  evangelize  the  world  in  this  generation,' 
*to  break  down  the  barriers  of  sect  and  promote  union  among 
Christians' :  these  are  the  watchwords  of  Evangelical  Chris- 
tianity today.  Admirable  watchwords,  indeed !  But  how 
can  you  evangelize  the  masses  unless  you  have  a  definite 


112  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

doctrine  to  teach  ?  All  experience  goes  to  show  that  the  more 
ignorant  or  poor  those  whom  you  wish  to  evangelize,  the 
more  essential  it  is  that  you  should  have  clearly  expressed 
doctrines  to  teach,  and  clearly  defined  duties  of  religion  to 
inculcate.  Otherwise  your  work  is  shallow,  impermanent, 
or  ineffective.  *  *  *  Truly  we  must  ask  of  one  another 
what  Joab  asked  of  Ahimaaz :  *My  son,  where  wilt  thou 
run,  seeing  thou  hast  no  tidings  ready  ?'  "  ® 

And  now  that  modern  knowledge  has  deprived  Protestants 
of  their  infallible  standard  many  are  ready  to  burn  what 
once  they  adored.  At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Woman's 
Auxiliary,  the  writer  heard  a  young  priest  fresh  from  one 
of  our  so-called  "Evangelical  Seminaries"  say,  in  speaking 
of  teaching  children  the  Christian  Nurture  Series,  "First  let 
me  say  that  v/hat  we  are  not  to  teach  is  the  Bible."  Protest- 
ant and  Romanist  are  at  last  one  in  regard  to  the  Bible. 
Opposed  to  Protestant  and  Romanist,  however,  is  the  ancient 
Catholic  position  expressed  in  the  saying  "the  Church  to 
teach  and  the  Bible  to  prove."  "  'Do  not,'  St.  Cyril  of  Jeru- 
salem says,  speaking  even  to  Catechumens,  Vlo  not  believe 
me  simply,  unless  you  receive  the  proof  of  zvhat  I  say  from 
Holy  Scripture."  "The  early  Church,  believing  the  Bible  to 
be  the  guide  of  individual  Christians  in  faith  and  conduct," 
says  Bishop  Gore,  "would  have  all  her  members  well  versed 
in  its  contents.  They  could  safely  read  the  Scriptures  for 
themselves  and  be  earnestly  exhorted  to  do  so,  if  only  the 
Church's  teaching  had  first  given  them  the  right  point  of 
viev/  for  their  study."  ^ 

This  relation  of  the  Church  to  the  Bible  was  reasserted 
at  the  Reformation  by  the  English  Church,  and  it  is  upon 
this  position  that  English  and  American  Churchmen  take 
their  stand.  The  late  Fr.  Sword,  who  was  on  very  friendly 
terms  with  his  Roman  brethren,  used  to  tell  how  one  day  one 

'  Orders  and  Unity. — C.  Gore. 

•  Roman   Catholic   Claims,    Chapter  4,   "The  Bible  in   the   Church,"   C.   Gore. 
Paper,  price  25  cents. 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  113 

of  them  said  to  him,  "You  are  so  near  to  us,  there  is  only  a 
piece  of  paper  between  us ;  why  do  you  not  come  over  ?" 
To  which  Fr.  Sword  repHed,  *'Yes,  there  is  only  a  piece  of 
paper  between  us,  but  the  Bible  is  written  on  that  piece  of 
paper."  Those  who  left  the  Communion  of  the  Church  and 
set  up  the  Bible  alone  as  their  infallible  authority  have  not, 
however,  found  it  a  bulwark  and  a  defense  against  error. 
"Logic  works  among  men  slowly  but  surely,"  says  Bishop 
Gore.  "I  think  it  will  be  increasingly  difficult  to  maintain  the 
creed,  or  Scripture  as  a  standard  of  apostolic  doctrine,  torn 
asunder  from  the  rest  of  the  church's  witness."  And  so  we 
see  it  working  out  in  the  writings  and  teaching  of  those  who 
regard  the  Catholic  Church  as  a  human  organization.  The 
Bible  is  treated  with  ridicule  and  contempt,  especially  by  the 
younger  men,  and  this  soon  passes  on  to  a  denial  of  the 
Virgin  birth  and  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord.  A  human 
Church  produces  a  human  Christ.  It  is  to  scholars  and 
leaders  of  modern  thought,  like  Bishop  Gore,  Fr.  Figgis, 
and  our  own  Dr.  Hall,  Catholic  Churchmen  who  believe  the 
Church  to  be  the  Body  of  Christ,  a  supernal  society,  that  we 
must  look  for  defense  of  the  Bible  as  the  Word  of  God. 

Then  too,  the  Bible  can  never  be  the  same  to  those  out 
of  the  Church  as  it  is  to  those  within  who  believe  in  Jesus 
the  Christ  (the  Messiah),  the  fulfillment  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment prophecies,  the  founder  of  the  kingdom  promised  to 
Abraham,  and  the  Catholic  Church  foretold  by  Malachi. 
"From  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  unto  the  going  down  of 
the  same  my  Name  shall  be  great  among  the  Gentiles;  and 
in  every  place  incense  shall  be  offered  unto  my  Name,  and 
a  pure  offering." 

The  parables  and  miracles  of  our  Lord,  and  all  His  teach- 
ing as  well  as  His  life.  His  death,  His  resurrection  and 
ascension,  will  have  a  different  and  a  richer  and  fuller 
meaning  to  those  who  believe  in  the  Church  and  the  Sacra- 
ments than  to  those  who  do  not  so  believe. 


114  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

"It  can  here  be  taken  for  granted,"  says  Bishop  Gore, 
"that  as  the  Church  existed  before  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament  were  written,  as  they  were  written  for  those  who 
were  already  members  of  the  Church  and  had  received  her 
primary  instruction,  as  she  alone  witnesses  to  the  inspiration 
of  some  of  them,  as  she  alone  collected  them  into  a  canon 
and  drew  the  line  between  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  in 
which  she  recognized  primary  or  apostolic  authority,  and  the 
Epistle  of  Clement  or  the  Shepherd  of  Hernias  in  which 
she  did  not,  as  finally  in  history  the  Bible  came  out  into  the 
world  simply  as  the  sacred  books  of  a  certain  society,  the 
Church,  accessible  to  her  members  and  belonging  to  her 
alone — it  may  be  taken  for  granted,  I  say,  that  the  Bible 
does  not  stand  alone  as  giving  the  Christian  rule  of  faith, 
but  the  Bible  interpreted  by  the  Church.  The  Spirit  in  the 
society  interprets  the  Spirit  in  the  books." 

We  receive  the  Bible  as  the  Word  of  God  on  the  authority 
of  the  Catholic  Church.  There  is  no  other  authority  for  so 
receiving  it.  The  Old  Testament  was  received  from  the 
Jewish  Church  and  the  Catholic  Church  collected  and  pro- 
claimed the  New  Testament  Canon.  The  Church  does  not 
say  the  Bible  is  an  infallible  book,  and  that  those  who  wrote 
it  were  mere  machines  to  write  as  directed.  She  tells  us  that 
all  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  and  some  of  the  books 
of  the  Old  Testament  were  written  by  men  inspired  to  give 
God's  message  and  teach  His  truth.  They  had  only  the 
knowledge  of  their  day,  and  their  writings  expressed  their 
individuality  and  recollections.  One  inspired  writer,  for 
example,  in  telling  of  one  of  our  Lord's  miracles  may  say  one 
person  was  healed,  while  another  inspired  writer  telling  the 
same  story  may  speak  of  several  being  healed,  but  this  does 
not  affect  their  message.  Some  of  the  Old  Testament  was 
not  even  written  by  inspired  men,  but  the  Church,  the 
inspired  Society,  put  these  books  in  the  Canon  because  they 
serve  the  purpose  of  the  book.    Dr.  Hall  says,  "The  Bible 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  115 

as  a  whole — the  Bible  which  we  have — is  a  special  product 
of  the  Holy  Spirit's  overruling  work,  and  that  it  has  been 
given  us  by  God  to  be  read  for  edification  in  the  faith  which 
we  have  received  from  Jesus  Christ,  this  is  the  doctrine  of 
biblical  inspiration."  ' 

The  purpose  of  the  Bible  we  see  is  not  to  teach  us  the 
Faith  or  to  give  us  life.  This  is  the  work  of  the  Living 
Church.  Life  can  only  come  from  life ;  it  cannot  come  from 
a  book,  as  our  Lord  told  the  Jews.®  The  purpose  of  the  Bible 
is  to  confirm  and  illuminate  the  Faith.  Some  one  has  recently 
suggested  that  we  omit  the  Old  Testament  from  our  lection- 
ary,  which  reminds  one  of  the  French  Government  before 
the  war  gravely  ordering  French  history  to  begin  with  the 
French  Revolution.  St.  Augustine  says,  "The  New  Testa- 
ment lieth  in  the  Old,"  and  Dr.  Hamilton's  book,  ''The 
People  of  God,"  has  done  much  to  make  us  see  this  and  to 
realize  that  Jesus  the  Christ  came  "not  to  destroy  but  to 
fulfill."  Our  Lord,  speaking  of  the  Old  Testament,  bids  the 
Jews  "Search  the  Scriptures,"  saying  "they  testify  of  me" ; 
and  Fr.  Figgis  in  his  last  message  reminds  us,  as  he  has  often 
done  before,  of  the  importance  of  studying  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  teaching  it  to  children.  He  tells  us  it  is  only  as 
we  study  the  old  prophets  we  can  understand  our  Lord's 
claim  to  be  the  Messiah  (the  Christ).  St.  Paul  says  these 
old  Scriptures  were  written  for  our  learning,  that  in  reading 
and  studying  God's  patient  and  long-sufifering  dealings  with 
men,  and  the  long,  slow  preparation  of  the  world  for  the 
Incarnation,  we  may  learn  patience  and  find  comfort  and 
hope.^  The  Psalms  too,  the  great  book  of  devotion  used  by 
our  Lord,  may  be  a  "lamp  unto  our  feet,  and  a  light  unto 
our  path." 

"The  New  Testament  Heth  in  the  Old  and  the  Old  Testa- 

'  The  Bible  and  Modern  Criticism. — F.  J.  Hall,  D.D.  Moorehouse  Pub.  Co., 
price  25  cents.  See  also  The  Creed  of  the  Christian. — Bishop  Gore,  paper,  45 
cents. 

«St.  John  5:39,40.  »  Rom.   15:4. 


116  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

ment  is  explained  in  the  New,"  St.  Augustine  says.  The 
Gospels  giving  the  very  words  of  our  Lord  and  the  story 
of  His  life  on  earth  have  ever  been  revered  by  the  Church 
above  all  other  books,  and  these  with  the  other  books  of  the 
New  Testament  we  should  constantly  "read,  mark,  learn 
and  inwardly  digest."  At  the  close  of  his  Gospel  St.  John 
says,  *'These  are  written,  that  ye  might  believe  that  Jesus 
is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God ;  and  that  believing  ye 
might  have  life  through  His  Name."  That  is  the  purpose 
of  the  Bible  from  Genesis  to  Revelation,  and  if  we  read  it 
with  this  in  view,  we  shall  find  our  faith  confirmed  and 
illuminated. 

"Thus  it  is  only  by  keeping  the  whole  surface  of  Scripture 
constantly  before  the  eyes  of  the  Church  at  large,"  says 
Bishop  Gore,  "that  we  can  have  amongst  us  the  real  mind  of 
the  Spirit  in  all  its  richness  and  freedom,  so  that  the  Church 
can  make  fresh  starts  in  view  of  new  needs,  so  that  she  can 
bring  forth  out  of  her  treasures  things  new  and  old,  applying 
the  old  faith  in  new  ways,  because  she  is  drinking  constantly 
through  her  whole  body  at  the  original  fount  of  inspiration. 
It  is  the  complexity  of  our  rule  of  faith — taking  in  the  whole 
Church  and  the  Scriptures  and  the  individual,  which  is  the 
guarantee  that  the  faith  will  not  be  centralized  and  narrowed, 
as  it  goes  down  the  ages."  ^^ 

Nothing  has  entered  so  deeply  into  our  national  life  and 
has  had  such  influence  in  forming  our  national  character 
and  our  language  as  the  English  Bible.  Fifty  years  ago  the 
speeches  and  writings  of  our  men  of  letters,  and  men  in 
public  life,  were  filled  with  quotations  from  the  Bible,  and  its 
incomparable  English  and  the  simplicity  and  beauty  of  its 
expression  moulded  their  thought  and  their  style  in  greater 
or  less  degree.  Children  were  taught  to  memorize  not  verses 
but  chapters  of  the  Bible,  and  the  children  of  the  Church 
memorized  the  Collects  and  the  Catechism  also.    And  what 

19  Roman  Catholic  Claims. — C.  Gore. 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  117 

treasures  they  laid  up  against  the  infirmities  of  age,  when 
loss  of  sight,  hearing  and  health  creep  on.  Some  of  us  have 
been  privileged  to  see  what  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  knowing 
it  by  heart  in  two  ways,  may  mean  in  old  age. 

What  are  the  children  in  Church  schools  and  Sunday 
schools  learning  to-day  that  can  compare  to  this?  What 
treasures  are  they  laying  up  against  the  evil  days?  Are 
they  being  equipped  with  "the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is 
the  Word  of  God,"  the  great  weapon  used  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  for  us  in  times  of  temptation?  It  was  our  Lord's 
weapon  in  His  battle  with  the  Devil  in  the  wilderness,  and 
it  was  His  comfort  and  His  cry  of  dereliction  on  the  Cross. 
He  must  have  said  the  twenty-second  Psalm  many  times 
before,  but  on  the  Cross  He  was  entering  into  its  meaning, 
putting  Himself  into  the  words.  So  we  shall  find  it  in 
knowing  Holy  Scripture. 

Some  of  us  will  remember  walking  for  the  first  time 
through  one  of  the  great  picture  galleries  in  Europe.  It  was 
very  bewildering,  and  we  were  becoming  tired  and  confused, 
when  suddenly  we  came  upon  a  familiar  picture,  a  Madonna 
perhaps,  that  hung  in  a  room  at  home.  It  was  like  meeting 
an  old  friend,  and  we  sat  down  before  it  to  rest.  Yes,  it  was 
the  same  picture,  but  oh,  so  much  more  beautiful  and  glori- 
ous !  And  when  we  got  back  home  and  looked  at  the  old 
photograph  it  was  not  the  same,  it  was  transfigured.  So  it  is 
with  the  Bible.  We  have  read  a  chapter  or  a  verse  often,  and 
it  has  had  no  particular  meaning  to  us  ;  then  suddenly  one  day 
in  some  experience  or  some  need  it  is  illuminated  and  used 
by  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  has  a  message  for  us ;  it  becomes  part 
of  our  hfe  and  experience,  and  can  never  again  be  meaning- 
less. 

"And  when,  in  scenes  of  glory, 
I  sing  the  new,  new  song, 
'Twill  be  the  Old,  Old  Story 
That  I  have  loved  so  long." 


118  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

Reading,  "My  duty  towards  God  is  to  love  Him  with  all 
my  heart,  with  all  my  mind,  with  all  my  soul  and  with  all  my 
strength."  That  is,  with  the  affections,  the  intellect,  the 
imagination  and  the  will.  This,  our  Lord  Himself  says,  is 
the  first  and  great  commandment,  and  to  keep  it  we  need  to 
read,  to  pray  and  to  think  about  God.  Dr.  Faber  says,  ''Other 
things  being  equal,  a  person  beginning  the  spiritual  Hfe  with 
a  taste  for  reading  has  a  much  greater  chance  of  advancing 
and  of  persevering  than  one  who  is  destitute  of  such  a  taste. 
Experience  shows  that  it  is  really  almost  equal  to  a  grace." 
He  goes  on  to  say  this  taste  is  attainable,  and  must  be  culti- 
vated if  one  would  make  progress  in  the  spiritual  Hfe,  and 
he  is  not  speaking  only  of  rehgious  reading.  He  shows  how 
reading  fills  the  idle  hour,  preventing  idle  and  perhaps  un- 
charitable and  wrong  thoughts,  and  how  it  keeps  us  from 
fretting  and  helps  us  to  control  our  temper  and  irritability. 
At  such  times,  he  says,  "a  book  is  a  strong  tower,  nay,  a  very 
church,  with  angels  lurking  among  the  leaves,  as  if  they 
were  so  many  niches."  And  then  how  it  helps  our  conver- 
sation, making  it  more  interesting  and  less  petty.  "Our 
books  are  our  neighbor's  allies,  by  making  it  less  necessary 
to  discuss  him.  It  is  very  hard  for  a  person  who  does  not 
like  reading  to  talk  without  sinning."  Reading  "also  makes 
our  piety  more  attractive  to  those  around  us.  *  *  *  \Ye 
are  better  missionaries  in  daily  society  if  we  have  a  taste 
for  reading;  and  this  of  course  does  not  mean  spiritual 
reading  on  the  one  hand,  nor  on  the  other  that  light  reading 
which  dissipates  our  spirit,  sullies  our  faith,  and  makes  our 

conversation  puerile  and  frothy."  ^^    "A  visit  to  Mrs. 

is  always  a  pleasure,"  said  a  friend  to  the  writer,  speaking  of 
a  delightful  and  cultivated  old  lady  and  mutual  friend.  "She 
talks  about  things,  not  about  people ;  she  appeals  to  all  that 
is  best  in  you,  and  you  go  away  feeling  refreshed  and  up- 
hfted." 

i»  spiritual  Conferences.— F.  W.  Faber. 


OBUGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  119 

And  what  a  solace  a  taste  for  reading  is  in  sickness  and 
in  old  age.  If  any  one  would  see  what  it  means  to  have  one's 
mind  the  treasure  house  of  the  ages,  let  him  read  Fr.  Con- 
greves'  last  book,  "Treasures  of  Hope  for  the  Evening  of 
Life,"  written  at  ninety.  Our  forefathers  and  the  pioneers 
of  our  country,  east  and  west,  had  few  books,  but  how  they 
knew  them  and  how  they  loved  them.  All  book  lovers  know 
there  are  no  better  friends  than  old  books,  books  you  have 
read  again  and  again,  and  pick  up  when  wearied  in  mind  or 
body  just  to  read  a  chapter  or  two.  With  our  electric  light, 
trolleys,  motors,  eight  hour  laws  and  free  text  books  we  are 
not  developing  any  Abraham  Lincolns.  "If  you  like  to  read, 
you  will  read,"  said  the  mother  of  a  large  family,  with  many 
cares  and  small  means,  as  she  laid  down  the  latest  English 
Review,  which  she  had  been  reading  with  a  baby  on  her  lap, 
to  talk  to  the  writer. 

A  taste  for  reading  implies  a  love  of  knowledge  and  an 
interest  in  things  outside  of  ourselves  and  our  small  circle. 
The  self-sufficient  individual  who  "knows  it  all"  is  never 
interesting  and  does  not  grow.  The  physician,  for  example, 
who  never  reads,  deteriorates,  no  matter  how  clever  he  is, 
not  only  because  he  does  not  "keep  up  to  the  times,"  but  also 
because  he  lacks  food  for  thought,  and  feeding  on  himself 
becomes  self-centered  and  loses  his  judgment.  If  he  has  a 
real  taste  for  reading,  he  will  not  confine  himself  to  books 
on  his  profession,  but  will  add  to  these  histories,  biographies, 
religious  books,  essays,  novels,  etc.,  which  will  broaden  his 
views  of  life  and  give  him  a  better  understanding  of  human 
nature,  making  him  a  better  doctor. 

If  this  is  valuable  to  those  who  minister  to  men's  bodies, 
how  much  more  so  is  it  to  those  who  minister  to  their  souls. 
Fr.  Figgis  in  urging  the  clergy  to  read  regularly  and  sys- 
tematically, advises  their  including  in  their  reading  good 
biographies  and  novels,  not  that  they  may  preach  on  them — 
he  never  drags  the  pulpit  down  to  that — but  that  they  may 


120  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

have  a  larger  knowledge  of  life,  and  also  that  they  may  be 
in  touch  with  modern  thought,  and  thus,  in  their  intercourse 
with  men  as  well  as  in  their  preaching,  be  able  to  direct  into 
right  channels  the  currents  of  thought,  at  least  of  those  with 
whom  they  are  associated.  Fr.  Figgis'  own  writings  and 
preaching  filled  with  quotations  from  ancient  and  modern 
writers,  and  expressing  and  guiding  with  sympathetic  under- 
standing the  aspirations  of  the  new  age,  are  examples  of  his 
teaching.  Something  of  what  he  has  done  in  a  big  way  as 
the  great  Seer  and  prophet  of  our  time,  every  intelligent  man 
and  woman  can  do  in  a  small  way. 

Numbers  of  converts  to  Spiritualism  and  Christian  Science, 
it  is  said,  are  made  among  women  every  year  in  summer 
hotels. ^^  How  many  might  be  won  for  God  and  saved  from 
soul  destroying  influences,  if  among  these  groups  there  was 
one  well  read  Churchwoman,  able  to  take  an  intelligent  part 
in  these  discussions,  point  out  the  false  teaching  and  witness 
to  the  truth  "as  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  The  same  may  be 
said  of  men  among  whom,  in  clubs  and  lodges,  religion  is  a 
frequent  topic  of  conversation.  This  is  the  reason  the 
Knights  of  Columbus  are  extending  their  social  work.  The 
willingness  of  men  in  our  colleges  and  universities  to  talk 
religion  with  one  who  knows  what  he  or  she  is  talking  about, 
and  will  talk  of  it  as  simply  and  naturally  as  the  war  or  the 
weather,  has  frequently  been  shown.  The  Mirfield  Fathers 
in  their  visits  to  our  universities  remarked  on  this,  and  on 
the  simplicity  and  lack  of  self-consciousness  they  found  in 
our  young  men,  God  bless  them,  who  have  since  shown  these 
traits  so  notably  in  the  offering  of  their  young  lives  for  the 
salvation  of  the  world  from  Prussianism.  These  men  v/ill 
not  talk  about  themselves,  but  if  you  keep  off  personalities, 
sentimentalism  and  cant,  they  will  discuss  baptismal  regener- 
ation and  the  difficulties  of  faith  in  the  supernatural,  as 

"The  Germans  said  America  could  be  best  attacked  and  conquered  through 
her  women. 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  121 

naturally  as  they  will  discuss  Spiritualism  or  the  League  of 
Nations. 

For  this  work  solid  foundations  and  a  background  of  good 
religious  reading  are  necessary.  "Spiritual  reading,"  says 
Dr.  Faber,  "is  itself  an  essential  exercise.  It  is  a  special 
and  peculiar  form  of  prayer,  the  management  of  which  is 
one  of  the  important  features  of  our  spiritual  day."  But  it 
is  not  of  such  reading  we  are  thinking  now.  By  good 
religious  reading  is  meant  the  reading  of  such  books  as 
Bishop  Gore's  "Orders  and  Unity,"  Fr.  Bull's  ''Sacramental 
Principle,"  Dr.  lUingworth's  "Christian  Character,"  Dr. 
Hamilton's  "People  of  God,"  Fr.  Figgis'  "Gospel  and 
Human  Needs,"  and  books  of  a  like  character,  books  that 
inform  the  intellect,  kindle  the  affections,  fire  the  imagination 
and  stimulate  the  will.  Such  reading  feeds  and  furnishes 
prayer  and  meditation,  and  was  called  by  the  old  Masters 
"the  oil  of  the  lamp  of  prayer."  It  also  keeps  our  point  of 
view  right  and  our  mind  straight,  and  prevents  our  being 
carried  away  by  attractive  theories  and  becoming  entangled 
in  bewildering  sophistries.^^ 

A  priest  who  has  come  to  us  from  the  Presbyterians  told 
the  writer,  that  for  the  first  three  years  of  his  ministry  he 
read  no  religious  books  but  those  by  the  great  teachers  of  the 
Church,  past  and  present.  He  wanted,  he  said,  to  absorb 
the  Church's  spirit,  to  get  the  Church's  point  of  view,  and 
to  learn  the  Church's  language,  as  one  goes  to  live  in  a 
French  family  where  no  English  is  spoken  to  learn  French. 
Would  there  were  more  like  him.  Many  come  into  the 
Church  and  while  quite  orthodox  never  see  the  heavenly 
vision. 

Fr.  Figgis  saw  the  vision,  and  felt  the  difficulties  of  the 
Christian  faith  as  only  one  possessed  of  "singular  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  intellectual  and  spiritual,  can  feel  them.^*    He 

'*  In  such  reading  it  is  best  not  to  read  more  than   one  chapter  a  day,  and 
perhaiis  read  each  chapter  twice. 
**  Fr.  Figgis  was  the  son  of  a  Congregational  Minister. 


122  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

saw  too  an  impending  catastrophe  and  the  breakdown  of 
our  civilization  long  before  it  came,  and  he  is  (for  though 
he  be  dead,  he  speaketh)  the  prophet  of  the  new  day,  the 
interpreter  of  the  Gospel  of  the  Cross  to  a  new  world,  and 
in  his  Hulsean  lectures  on  the  Gospel  and  Human  Needs, 
delivered  in  1908,  he  "blazed  the  trail."  "These  lectures," 
he  says,  "do  but  express  the  way  in  which  to  one  man  alive 
to  'the  currents  of  troubled  thought'  the  truth  of  the  Cross 
shines  out  and  what  seems  a  hindrance  has  been  made  a 
help."  "My  point  is,"  he  says  in  the  introduction  to  the 
new  edition  of  this  book  (1912),  "that  whatever  its  diffi- 
culties, the  Gospel  is  congruous  with  life  as  it  is  lived ;  by 
the  child,  the  youth,  the  soldier,  the  peasant — and  all  who 
struggle  and  sin.  Compared  with  this  the  mere  speculations 
of  a  certain  small  class  devoted  to  theory,  and  a  larger  class 
who  make  use  of  their  theories  as  a  luxury,  are  of  but  little 
weight."  So  while  he  urges  Christians  to  be  thinkers  and 
dreamers,  he  points  out  the  dangers  of  pure  intellectualism 
and  the  vagaries  of  self-centeredness.  "Those  for  whom 
life  means  largely  reflection  are  tempted  to  make  their 
religion  a  matter  of  ideals  and  personal  fancies;  and  they 
resent  the  harshness  of  external  facts,"  he  says.  A  warn- 
ing always  needed  by  "bookie"  people. 

For  educated  men  and  women  in  this  new  world  and  this 
new  age,  his  books  pointing  out  where  danger  lies,  and  how 
to  steer  a  straight  course,  are  invaluable.  Among  his  last 
words  he  emphasizes  what  he  has  often  said  before  of  the 
soundness  of  English  education.  In  speaking  of  outdoor 
sport  he  says,  "No  greater  snare  lies  before  the  man  of 
intellectual  interest  than  the  itch  to  despise  it."  ^^  Like 
Newman,  with  whom  he  was  deeply  sympathetic,  he  was 
"an  admirable  instance  of  the  growth  of  Evangelicalism  into 
the  richer  life  of  Catholic  Christianity,  and  of  the  profound 
connection  between  the  two."     Of  him  can  truly  be  said 

*•  Hopes  for   Knglish   Religion. — J.  N.    Figgis,   C.   R. 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  123 

what  he  wrote  of  Newman — translating  nineteenth  into 
twentieth  century — "His  was  the  most  subtle,  acute,  and 
sympathetic  mind  which  devoted  itself  to  the  problem  of 
religion  as  a  whole  in  the  nineteenth  century.  Impressed  at 
once  with  the  duty  and  the  difficulty  of  defending  the  Chris- 
tian life  as  the  most  reasonable  view,  he  saw  the  need  of 
understanding  its  adversaries,  and  of  using  the  appropriate 
new  w^eapons.  Archery  is  no  longer  of  service,  now  that 
gunpowder  has  become  general.  What  he  did  \vas  to  intro- 
duce gunpowder  into  apologetics — and  thus  to  originate  a 
vast  movement  in  the  direction  of  definite  faith — and  to  pro- 
vide new  weapons  more  appropriate  than  the  outworn 
scholastic  long-bow."  Again,  "What  he  actually  did  w^as  to 
bring  religion  under  the  category  of  life,  instead  of  treating 
it  as  an  aggregate  of  propositions  to  which  assent  is  de- 
manded on  grounds  intellectually  coercive."  ^^ 

But  while  like  Newman  "alive  to  the  currents  of  troubled 
thought,"  wath  the  intellect  of  a  genius,  the  temperament  and 
vision  of  a  seer,  and  the  heart  of  a  child,  he  escaped  making 
Newsman's  mistakes ;  probably  largely  from  a  different  early 
training.  Of  Newman  he  says,  "The  truth  is  that  those  who 
yielded  to  his  own  wishes  and  his  mother's  fears,  and  saved 
him  from  the  knocking  about  of  a  public  school,  probably 
did  him  a  deeper  injury  than  any  among  his  numerous  ad- 
versaries. Newman's  sensitive  temperament  might  not  have 
allowed  him  a  happy  life  at  school ;  but  he  would  have  had 
a  far  happier  manhood  and  old  age  if  he  had  roughed  it  as 
a  boy."  Then  too,  Fr.  Figgis  lived  through  the  great  w^orld 
war,  from  which  we  were  so  far  removed,  and  in  which  we 
took  a  noble  but  small  part.  He  saw  the  workings  of  the 
Roman  ecclesiastical  system  in  Ireland  and  in  Canada  as  well 
as  in  Belgium,  and  he  saw  the  failure  of  the  Papacy  in  a 
world  crisis.  "He  had  to  be  neutral,"  his  defenders  say  of 
the  Pope. 

»•  The  Fellowship  of  the  Mystery.— J.  N.   Figgis,  C.   R. 


124  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

The  effect  this  neutrality  has  had  upon  those  who  have 
been  near  to  it,  and  endured  the  agony  of  that  great  conflict, 
is  reflected  in  "Hopes  for  English  Religion."  There  too  is 
shown  by  the  writer  a  fine  discrimination  between  the 
Catholic  religion  as  practiced  by  devout  Roman  Catholics 
and  the  Roman  system. ;  and  an  exultant  joy  in  not  being 
obliged  to  endure  the  latter  to  have  the  former.  To  him, 
with  his  love  of  truth  and  faith  in  human  freedom,  there  was 
no  attraction  in  infallibility,  of  which  he  says,  "All  that  we 
know  about  human  life  and  society  combines  with  all  that 
we  have  been  given  in  the  Christian  revelation  to  drive  us  to 
a  passionate  and  resolved  repudiation  of  the  Ultramontane 
monstrosity,  rightly  styled  by  the  great  Puritan  allegorist : 
'Giant  Pope.'  "  "The  Papalist  theory  is  not  a  gift  of  re- 
vealed truth ;  it  is  the  pillage  of  the  Roman  law-books."  ^^ 

To  the  lon^  roll  of  honored  names  of  Doctors  of  the 
Church  who  have  taught  men  liow  to  love  God  with  all  the 
heart,  the  mind  and  the  soul  must  be  added  the  name  of 
John  Neville  Figgis,  D.D.,  Litt.D.,  priest  of  the  Community 
of  the  Resurrection.     May  he  rest  in  peace. 

To  him  his  spiritual  mother  was  no  stepmother,  but  a  true 
mother  dearly  loved  and  sorely  tried ;  neglected  by  her  chil- 
dren and  assailed  by  her  enemies  on  all  sides.  In  her  defense 
he  fought ;  to  her  he  gave  his  best ;  like  John  Inglesant,  in 
her  he  found  a  home  for  his  free  and  restless  spirit ;  and 
kneeling  at  her  altars  in  "the  hush  before  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment" the  wonder  and  joy  of  the  mystery  filled  his  soul. 

"Lord,  I  am  not  high-minded:  I  have  no  proud  looks. 
I  do  not  exercise  myself  in  great  matters :  which  are  too  high 
for  me.  But  I  refrain  my  soul,  and  keep  it  low,  like  as  a 
child  that  is  weaned  from  his  mother:  yea,  my  soul  is  even 
as  a  weaned  child.  O  Israel,  trust  in  the  Lord :  from  this 
time  forth  for  evermore." 

"  Hopes  for  English   Religion. — J.  N.  Figgis,  C.  R. 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP 

DUTY  TO  MY  NEIGHBOR 

Question.    What  is  thy  duty  towards  thy  Neighbor? 

Answer.  My  duty  towards  my  neighbor  is  To  love  him  as  myself, 
and  to  do  to  all  men  as  I  would  they  should  do  unto  me :  To  love, 
honour,  and  succour  my  father  and  mother :  To  honour  and  obey  the 
civil  authority:  To  submit  myself  to  all  my  governors,  teachers, 
spiritual  pastors  and  masters :  To  order  myself  lowly  and  rev- 
erently to  all  my  betters :  To  hurt  nobody  by  word  or  deed :  To  be 
true  and  just  in  all  my  dealings:  To  bear  no  malice  nor  hatred  in 
my  heart :  To  keep  my  hands  from  picking  and  stealing,  and  my 
tongue  from  evil  speaking,  lying,  and  slandering :  To  keep  my  body 
in  temperance,  soberness,  and  chastity:  Not  to  covet  nor  desire 
other  men's  goods :  But  to  learn  and  labour  truly  to  get  mine  own 
living.  And  to  do  my  duty  in  that  state  of  life  unto  which  it  shall 
please  God  to  call  me. — The  Catechism,  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

There  is  no  word  more  prominent  to-day  in  speech  and 
writing  than  the  word  "service,"  unless  it  be  that  overworked 
word  democracy.  We  have  military  service,  social  service, 
home  service  and  many  other  kinds  of  service,  yet  never 
have  there  been  fewer  wilhng  to  serve.  The  war  has  devel- 
oped many  capable,  enthusiastic  workers,  but  outside  the 
Army  and  Navy,  rightly  called  the  service,  few  servers ;  for 
service  means  subordination,  obedience,  and  self-effacement. 

The  call  of  the  Lord  is  a  call  to  whole-hearted  service — 
a  service  of  prayer,  praise,  obedience  and  work.  A 
personal  service  to  a  personal  God.  Is  it  not  better  to  give 
to  the  poor  than  to  go  to  church  and  say  prayers?  is  often 
asked.  Judas  thought  so,  or  at  least  said  so,  when  the  woman 
who  loved  much  because  she  was  much  forgiven  broke  her 

9  "5 


126  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

alabaster  box,  and  poured  the  precious  ointment  on  the 
Lord's  Sacred  Body;  but  the  Lord  commended  her.  All 
true  love  is  generous.  It  seeks  to  share,  to  express  itself  in 
sacrifice,  and  the  supreme  example  is  God  Himself  Who 
is  love.  His  love  expressed  to  us  first  in  His  self-limitation 
in  the  creation  of  free  beings  to  share  His  happiness  and 
some  of  His  power,  and,  second,  in  His  self-limitation  in  the 
Incarnation  and  its  extension,  shows  us  what  love  and  serv- 
ice mean,  and  how  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourself.  There 
is  a  right  and  a  wrong  self-love.  Portia  expresses  the 
humility  and  dignity  of  a  right  self-love  as  she  says  to  her 
lover — 

"You  see  me,  Lord  Bassanio,  where  I  stand 
Such  as  I  am ;  though  for  myself  alone, 
I  would  not  be  ambitious  in  my  wish, 
To  wish  myself  much  better;  yet  for  you, 
I  would  be  trebled  twenty  times  myself; 
A  thousand  times  more  fair,  ten  thousand  times 
More  rich." 

This  is  what  every  true  lover  feels.  As  Chesterton  &ays, 
when  anyone  falls  in  love,  he  or  she  discovers  humility. 

It  is  impossible  to  love  God  and  not  seek  to  be  with  Him 
in  prayer  and  Communion ;  and  it  is  just  as  impossible  to 
love  God  and  not  love  our  neighbor.  "If  a  man  say,  I  love 
God,  and  hateth  his  brother,  he  is  a  liar."  It  was  the  mystic 
St.  John,  not  the  practical  St.  James,  who  said  this. 

The  Catechism  specifies  certain  persons  to  whom  we  owe 
duty,  reverence  and  service.  "To  love,  honour  and  succour 
my  father  and  mother :  to  honour  and  obey  the  civil  author- 
ity :  to  submit  myself  to  all  my  governors,  teachers,  spiritual 
pastors  and  masters :  to  order  myself  lowly  and  reverently 
to  all  my  betters,"  this  we  are  taught  is  our  duty  as  members 
of  Christ.  It  sounds  strange  and  old-fashioned  to-day. 
Honour,  submit,  obey — these  things  are  out  of  date,  or  were 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  127 

before  the  war.  "Betters  indeed,  what  nonsense,"  says  the 
modern  man  and  woman  with  scorn.  "We  live  in  a  democ- 
racy where  all  men  are  equal."  But  all  men  are  not  equal. 
Some  are  clever,  while  others  are  stupid ;  some  have  physical 
handicaps,  others  have  robust  constitutions  and  good  health. 
It  is  equal  opportunities  and  the  right  of  life,  liberty  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness  a  democracy  promises,  and  such 
rights  can  only  come  to  men  in  a  social  order,  and  that  means 
law,  authority,  discipline  and  subordination.  These  things 
can  never  be  secured  in  a  state  where  everyone  does  just 
as  he  pleases.  A  state  of  anarchy  is  not  a  state  of  freedom, 
of  opportunity  or  of  happiness.  Russia  has  taught  us  that 
if  we  did  not  know  it  before.  Our  forefathers  did  know  it. 
They  had  seen  the  French  Revolution  and  its  end  in  an 
Empire. 

The  teaching  in  this  definition  of  our  duty  to  our  neighbor 
seemed  natural  and  proper  to  the  founders  of  our  constitu- 
tional democracy.  They  knew  self-government  could  only 
exist  if  the  members  of  the  state  learned  to  exercise  it  upon 
themselves,  and  were  willing  to  subordinate  their  own  wishes 
for  the  commonweal.  When  a  people  lose  this  power  of 
self-government,  and  the  utter  independence  of  the  indi- 
vidual is  asserted,  the  result  is  lawlessness  and  anarchy, 
ending  in  the  tyranny  of  mob  and  minority  rule,  always  fol- 
lowed by  a  dictator  or  a  conqueror.  "He  that  loveth  his 
life  shall  lose  it."  To  the  Christian,  subordination  is  not  an 
unnatural  and  strange  thing.  He  knows  it  does  not  mean 
inequality ;  it  is  merely  a  matter  of  order.  God  the  Son  is 
equal  with  the  Father  but  subordinate  to  the  Father  in  His 
work.  A  private  in  the  Army  may  be  a  better  and  a 
cleverer  man  than  his  captain  but  he  is  subordinate.  A  cap- 
tain may  be  better  educated  and  higher  in  the  social  scale 
than  his  colonel,  but  he  is,  nevertheless,  subordinate,  and 
orders  himself  lowly  and  reverently  to  all  his  betters  (supe- 
riors in  rank)  to  use  the  quaint  old  English  term.    It  is  by 


128  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

losing   our   life,   our   liberty   and   our   personal   happiness 
(desires)  in  the  brotherhood  that  we  find  these  things. 

Reverence  and  obedience  to  lawful  authority,  as  the  Cate- 
chism teaches  us,  must  be  learned  at  home  and  at  school. 
Lack  of  respect  and  obedience  to  parents  and  teachers  passes 
on  to  the  Church  and  the  State,  and  its  climax  is  written  on 
the  socialist  banner,  "No  God,  No  Master."  Men  and  women 
to-day  are  rejecting  the  Lordship  of  Christ  because  they  are 
rejecting  the  authority  of  His  representatives  in  the  home, 
the  Church  and  the  State.  This  is  true  of  all  classes  of 
society.  It  is  through  human  relationships  and  human  love 
that  we  learn  to  love  and  obey  God,  and  it  is  in  God  alone 
these  human  relationships  are  enduring  even  in  this  world. 

The  duty  of  "doing  good,"  of  giving  to  charities,  of  serv- 
ing on  boards,  in  short,  the  duty  of  social  service  is 
acknowledged  among  us  everywhere  to-day  even  by  those 
who  do  and  give  little.  Our  danger  is  in  making  a  religion 
of  social  service,  and  making  our  duty  to  our  neighbor  in- 
stitutional rather  than  personal.  It  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  a  working  woman  defined  social  service  as  "minding 
everybody's  business  but  your  own" ;  that  even  the  poor 
need  something  more  than  coal  and  potatoes,  as  a  poor 
woman  said  in  speaking  of  her  Rector.  It  is  much  easier 
to  be  patient  and  sympathetic  with  a  deaf  person  in  an  in- 
stitution than  in  the  family  or  the  parish.  "When  a  very 
unreasonable  and  exacting  woman  comes  to  me  in  the  store, 
I  always  know  she  is  an  uplifter  and  a  reformer,"  said  a 
shop  girl  to  the  writer. 

"Oh  wad  some  power  the  giftie  gie  us 
To  see  oursel's  as  others  see  us !" 

It  would  also  help  if  we  would  remember  how  much 
?n  us  others  put  up  with,  and  how  we  get  on  their  nerves.  It 
is  the  principle,  the  spirit  of   Christian  duty  and  service, 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP  129 

that  is  taught  us  in  the  Catechism.  Lazarus  does  not  He 
unnoticed  and  uncared  for  at  the  gate  of  the  man  who  loves 
God,  for  He  who  loves  God  loves  His  brother  also. 

A  right  self-love  and  self-respect,  and  a  right  love  for 
our  neighbor  will  lead  us  "not  to  covet  nor  desire  other  men's 
goods ;  but  to  learn  and  labour  truly  to  get  mine  own  living, 
and  to  do  my  duty  in  that  state  of  life  unto  which  it  shall 
please  God  to  call  me."  Suppose  men  and  women  were  to 
say,  We  will  put  these  teachings  into  practice  and  try  them 
for  a  month.  What  would  happen?  Order  would  be  re- 
stored, the  wheels  of  government  and  of  society  would  run 
smoothly,  the  look  of  strain  and  worry  w^ould  disappear 
from  faces,  and  happiness  would  come  back  to  the  world. 
This  is  what  happened  when  the  Gospel  was  first  preached 
in  a  world  very  like  ours.  Those  who  believed  and  put  in 
practice  the  laws  of  the  kingdom  of  God  found,  as  the 
Master  said,  they  were  the  laws  of  happiness.  Happy  are 
the  poor  in  spirit,  the  mourners,  the  meek,  those  hungering 
for  righteousness,  the  merciful,  the  peace  makers  and  the 
pure  in  heart. 

We  have  been  called  of  God  to  a  certain  place  in  the 
world,  in  society  and  in  the  Church.  It  is  doing  our  duty 
in  the  state  of  a  child  that  enables  us  to  go  up  higher,  and 
it  is  doing  our  duty  in  a  certain  place  in  society  that  fits 
us  for  something  better.  We  have  been  called  of  God  to 
serve  Him  in  a  certain  family,  in  certain  civil  and  social 
relations,  and  in  a  certain  parish  and  a  certain  part  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  We  are  not  called  to  ease  and  ecstasy, 
but  to  warfare.  God  needs  us  in  the  place  He  has  put  us  to 
do  a  certain  work  for  Him.  When  this  is  realized  we  will 
not  be  "upset"  when  things  go  wrong  in  the  parish  or  in  the 
Body,  and  think  of  giving  up.  Rather  we  will  say,  "I  may 
not  like  it  but  this  is  our  job,  nay,  this  is  my  job,  and  I 
am  going  to  stick  to  it."     If  wc  arc  living  in  His  Body,  in 


130  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

union  with  Him,  we  will  expect  the  fiery  darts  of  the  wicked 
that  strike  Him  to  strike  us.  Have  we  not  prayed  "Within 
Thy  wounds,"  close  to  Thy  Sacred  heart,  "hide  me"  ? 

We  cannot  do  our  duty  to  God  and  our  neighbor  and  have 
a  comfortable  time,  but  if  we  learn  of  Him  Who  pleased 
not  Himself,  obedience,  subordination  and  humility;  if  we 
deny  ourselves  and  take  up  our  Cross  and  follow  Him;  if 
we  care  for  His  little  ones  and  His  poor ;  we  shall  be  re- 
warded with  His  "Well  done,"  and  enter  into  the  joy  of 
the  Lord  even  here  and  now,  and  more  fully  when  He  comes 
in  triumph.  This  is  the  teaching  of  the  Incarnation  and 
the  Cross,  and  it  is  in  the  spirit  and  by  the  power  of  His 
Incarnation  and  His  Passion  we  must  do  our  duty  to  God 
and  our  neighbor. 

"Let  nothing  be  done  through  strife  or  vainglory ;  but  in 
lowliness  of  mind  let  each  esteem  other  better  than  them- 
selves. Look  not  every  man  on  his  own  things,  but  every 
man  also  on  the  things  of  others.  Let  this  mind  be  in  you, 
which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus :  Who,  being  in  the  form  of 
God,  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God :  but  made 
himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon  him  the  form  of 
a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  men:  and  being 
found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  himself,  and  became 
obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross.  Where- 
fore God  also  hath  highly  exalted  Him,  and  given  Him  a 
name  which  is  above  every  name:  that  at  the  name  of 
Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things 
in  earth,  and  things  under  the  earth ;  and  that  every  tongue 
should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of 
God  the  Father."  ^ 

»Phil.  2:3-11. 


THE  CHURCH  AND  ITS  OFFICERS 

"It  is  evident  unto  all  men,  diligently  reading  Holy  Scripture 
and  Ancient  Authors,  that  from  the  Apostles'  time  there  have 
been  these  Orders  of  Ministers  in  Christ's  Church — Bishops, 
Priests,  and  Deacons.  Which  Offices  w^ere  evermore  had  in  such 
reverend  estimation,  that  no  man  might  presume  to  execute  any 
of  them,  except  he  were  first  called,  tried,  examined,  and  known 
to  have  such  qualities  as  are  requisite  for  the  same;  and  also  by 
public  Prayer,  with  Imposition  of  Hands,  were  approved  and 
admitted  thereunto  by  lawful  Authority.  And  therefore,  to  the 
intent  that  these  Orders  may  be  continued,  and  reverently  used 
and  esteemed  in  this  Church,  no  man  shall  be  accounted  or  taken 
to  be  a  lawful  Bishop,  Priest,  or  Deacon,  in  this  Church,  or 
suffered  to  execute  any  of  the  said  Functions,  except  he  be  called, 
tried,  examined,  and  admitted  thereunto,  according  to  the  Form 
hereafter  following,  or  hath  had  Episcopal  Consecration  or 
Ordination." ' 

The  picture  given  in  popular  modern  literature  of  the  life 
and  work  of  Christ  is  that  of  an  evangelist  and  philanthro- 
pist, going  about  preaching  and  healing  the  sick,  a  reformer 
and  prophet  of  blameless  life  and  revolutionary  teaching, 
who  died  a  martyr,  and  the  record  of  whose  Hfe  and  teach- 
ing has  been  preserved  for  us  in  the  writings  of  His  disci- 
ples. Christians  are  described  as  those  who  take  His  life 
as  their  example,  and  follow  His  teaching,  which  each  one 
interprets  for  himself.  These  Christians,  it  is  said,  have 
formed  themselves  into  societies  according  to  their  tastes, 
that  they  may  study  and  practice  His  teaching  and  make 
it  known  to  all  men. 

When  we  are  told   that   God  committed   His   truth   to 
the  world  in  this  fashion,  we  very  reasonably  say  it  does 

*  Preface  from  the  Ordinal,  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

X3I 


132  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

not  correspond  with  what  we  know  of  Him,  and  therefore, 
it  does  not  seem  to  us  Hkely  to  be  true.  In  nature  all  is 
law,  order  and  system ;  and  we  learn  from  history  that  He 
chose  among  the  ancient  peoples  one  people,  the  children 
of  Israel,  to  be  His  peculiar  people,  and  to  them  He  revealed 
His  name  and  purposes.  Of  them  He  founded  a  Church, 
with  orders  of  ministry  and  a  system  of  worship,  of  sacri- 
fices, symbols  and  ceremonial.  To  this  Church  He  gave  the 
law  and  through  it  spoke  by  the  prophets.  "Salvation  is 
of  the  Jews,"  our  Lord  told  the  woman  of  Samaria.  But 
the  purpose  of  this  election  was  not  their  own  advantage 
but  the  good  of  all.  The  promise  to  Abraham  was  "In  thy 
seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed." 

Then  we  turn  to  the  New  Testament,  and  there  we  see 
this  popular  teaching  regarding  our  Lord's  life  and  work 
does  not  correspond  with  these  records.  From  the  Gospels 
we  learn  that  the  Christ  lived  for  thirty  years  in  Nazareth, 
not  healing  the  sick  and  preaching,  but  living  the  life  of 
an  ordinary  peasant,  and,  as  far  as  we  know,  unnoticed  and 
unknown.  When  He  came  forth  from  His  retirement  we 
find  Him  "numbered  with  the  transgressors"  at  Jordan,  to 
receive  with  them  from  His  great  forerunner  the  Baptism 
©f  Repentance,  that  thus  He  might  fulfill  all  righteousness. 
After  His  baptism  the  Holy  Spirit  descended  upon  His 
Sacred  Humanity,  and  the  Voice  of  the  Father  was  heard 
accepting  this  offering  of  Himself  as  the  Son  of  Man.  Thus, 
by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  He  was  ordained  for  His 
ministry,  thus  His  Apostles  were  ordained,  and  thus  every 
priest  in  the  Catholic  Church  ever  since  has  been  ordained. 

It  was  after  a  night  of  prayer  that  we  see  our  Lord  choosing 
among  His  disciples  the  twelve  to  be  His  Apostles,  the 
foundation  stones  upon  which  He  would  build  His  Church. 
"Ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but  I  have  chosen  you,"  He  told 
them;  and  if  His  object  was  to  select  men  to  write  a  book 
of  Him  and  His  teaching.   He  certainly  made  a  strange 


THE  CHURCH  AND  ITS  OFFICERS  133 

choice.  But  this  was  not  His  purpose.  He  was  calHng  the 
twelve  to  be  witnesses.  "Ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  Me 
both  in  Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judaea  and  in  Samaria,  and 
unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth,"  He  told  them.  The 
training  of  these  men  was  His  great  work,  and  unto  them  it 
was  given  "to  know  the  mysteries  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven,  but  unto  others  in  parables."  His  miracles  were 
acts  of  mercy,  "redemptive  acts,"  "His  works,"  and  to  be 
regarded  as  "Signs";  "That  ye  m.ay  know  that  the  Son  of 
Man  hath  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins,  (He  saith  to  the 
sick  of  the  palsy,)  I  say  unto  thee,  Arise,  and  take  up  thy 
bed,  and  go  thy  way  into  thine  house" ;  and  when  men  did 
not  so  regard  His  miracles  but  sought  Him  because  they 
"did  eat  of  the  loaves  and  were  filled"  He  rebuked  them, 
and  more  than  once  we  are  told  He  could  do  no  mighty  work 
because  of  unbelief.  Sometimes  the  Church  has  forgotten 
to  show  the  Signs  of  her  commission  in  corporal  works  of 
mercy,  and  at  other  times  she  has  forgotten  that  these  are 
but  Signs,  and  that  her  real  commission  is  to  preach  "the 
Son  of  Man  hath  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins."  In  either 
case  she  fails  in  her  Mission. 

During  the  forty  days  between  our  Lord's  resurrection 
and  ascension  He  spoke  to  the  Apostolic  band  of  the  things 
pertaining  to  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  gave  to  them  their 
great  commission  and  their  authority.  At  Pentecost,  when 
they  had  received  the  promised  power,  we  read  in  the  book 
of  the  Acts  how  they  started  out  without  hesitation  to 
organize  the  Church.  Members  were  admitted  by  baptism 
upon  profession  of  repentance  and  faith;  the  Holy  Spirit 
was  given  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  Apostles  ; 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  the  memorial  of  the  resurrection, 
was  made  the  Christian  day  of  obligation,  and  on  this  day 
the  Eucharist,  the  only  service  ordained  by  Christ,  was 
celebrated  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  smallest  detail  of 


134  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

ceremonial  as  He  had  done  it.    The  record  of  this  latter  has 
been  preserved  for  us  in  the  ancient  Liturgies. 

As  the  Church  grew  and  the  work  increased,  the  Apostles 
said,  "It  is  not  reason  that  we  should  leave  the  word  of 
God  to  serve  tables ;"  so  at  their  bidding  the  disciples  chose 
seven  men  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  wisdom,  and  when 
they  had  prayed,  they  laid  their  hands  on  them  and  delegated 
certain  authority  to  them.-  To  other  men  even  greater 
power  was  given.  St.  Luke  tells  us  in  the  Book  of  the  Acts 
that  the  Apostles  "appointed  elders  for  them  (the  Galatians) 
in  every  Church,"  and  Bishop  Gore  says  in  his  book  on 
Orders  and  Unity,  "We  may  assume  that  this  was  their 
regular  habit ;  and  that  the  elders,  also  called  bishops,  whom 
we  hear  of  later  in  other  churches,  such  as  Ephesus  and 
Philippi,  were  appointed  by  the  apostles,  and  that  their 
appointment  was  with  the  laying  on  of  hands.  At  Ephesus 
in  particular  we  know  that  at  the  time  of  the  Pastoral 
Epistles  this  method  of  ordination  existed,  and  had  attached 
to  it  the  idea  of  the  special  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  needed 
for  the  pastoral  administration." 

Then  we  pass  on  to  other  Christian  writings,  and  find 
one  of  the  most  important  witnesses  to  the  early  form 
of  church  government  in  Ignatius,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  who 
about  110-117  was  carried  to  his  martyrdom  at  Rome. 
"He  moves  through  Asia  in  the  custody  of  a  maniple  of 
soldiers,  whom  for  their  harshness  he  calls  'ten  leopards.' 
But  his  progress  is  converted  into  a  sort  of  triumph.  The 
churches  send  deputations  to  him  at  Smyrna,  and  he  writes 
letters  to  the  churches  of  the  Ephesians,  Magnesians,  Tral- 
lians,  and  to  the  church  of  Rome.  From  Troas  later  he 
writes  to  Philadelphia,  Smyrna,  and  Smyrna's  bishop.  Poly- 
carp.  These  extant  letters  from  a  man  who  was  probably  an 
old  man  at  the  end  of  the  first  decade  of  the  second  century 
are  of  extraordinary  interest.    They  are  full  of  a  passionate 

•Acts  6:2-6. 


THE  CHURCH  AND  ITS  OFFICERS  135 

holiness  and  a  rich  theology  of  the  incarnation.  But  we  are 
concerned  only  with  their  witness  to  episcopacy.  Ignatius 
sees  nebulous  forms  of  heresy  and  lawlessness  threatening 
the  young  churches  with  dissolution ;  and  he  pleads  passion- 
ately with  them  to  rally  round  their  officers,  that  is,  the 
bishop,  presbyters,  and  deacons  in  each  church.  *  *  ♦ 
Nothing  could  exceed  the  strength  of  his  witness  to  the 
threefold  ministry  as  being  the  only  form  of  church  govern- 
ment." 

"This  testimony  of  Ignatius,  whose  letters  are  undoubtedly 
genuine,  is  of  overwhelming  strength.  Plainly  the  trans- 
ference of  the  name  of  bishop  from  the  presbyters,  who  had 
undoubtedly  borne  it,  for  instance,  at  Ephesus,  had  taken 
place  with  general  agreement,  and  the  bishop,  though  he  was 
surrounded  by  his  presbyters  and  deacons,  represented,  as 
we  should  say,  a  different  order.  We  have  very  good 
reasons  for  believing  that  the  establishment  of  'monepis- 
copacy' — the  rule  of  the  single  bishop  in  each  church — had 
come  about  in  Asia  through  the  influence  of  St.  John  the 
apostle."  ^ 

There  are  some  students  of  history  who  believe  there  was 
a  time  when  many  of  the  churches  were  governed  by  a 
substantially  equal  college  of  presbyter-bishops.  Of  this 
Bishop  Gore  says:  **If  all  presbyter-bishops  held  at  a 
certain  period  in  certain  churches  substantially  equal  author- 
ity and  there  was  no  superior  over  them,  then  in  exercising 
the  chief  authority — for  instance,  in  ordaining  others  to 
succeed  to  their  office — they  were  only  doing  what  they 
were  appointed  to  do.  They  were  in  the  same  position 
as  the  presbyters  of  any  modern  diocese  would  be  in,  if 
they  were  all,  in  modern  phrase,  in  episcopal  orders.  They 
were  not  arrogating  to  themselves  anything  which  those 
who  set  them  in  their  office  had  not  appointed  to  them. 
The  principle  of  succession  was  quite  unbroken,  whether 

•  Orders  and  Unity. — C.  Gore. 


136  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

in  each  church  there  were  many  bishops  or  one.  *  ♦  ♦ 
I  must  say  that  to  me  this  transition  is  very  hard  to  reconcile 
with  the  inveterate  and  unhesitating  strength  of  the  tradition 
of  monepiscopacy — one  bishop  only  in  each  church,  instituted 
by  the  apostles — as  it  existed  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second 
century.  *  *  *  gy^  j^-  jg  ^^qj^  ^  matter  which  affects  the 
principle  of  succession."  * 

The  number  three  signifies  completeness.  The  complete- 
ness of  the  Holy  Trinity  is  reflected  in  the  human  family : 
father,  mother,  and  child  or  children,  and  in  the  church  by 
the  three  orders  of  ministry.  But  it  is  not  so  much  the  num- 
ber or  form  of  ministry  the  Church  stands  for,  as  it  is  the 
principle  of  succession.  This  is,  that  to  be  a  minister  in  the 
Catholic  Church,  bishop,  priest  or  deacon,  a  man  must  re- 
ceive authority  from  one  who  has  the  power  to  give  it.  It 
is  the  same  in  the  State  and  in  all  ordered  government. 
Suppose  a  man  were  to  say,  "I  am  an  American,  and  in  our 
country  all  men  are  equal.  I  therefore  will  appoint  Mr. 
Blank  an  Ambassador  to  France.  I  consider  him  better 
fitted  for  the  position  than  the  man  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent." And  suppose  the  man  went  to  France  on  this  appoint- 
ment and  with  these  credentials,  would  he  be  received  by 
the  French  Government,  and  allowed  to  act  as  the  repre 
sentative  of  the  United  States?  Or  suppose  a  man  were 
to  say,  "I  am  as  good  as  the  Governor  of  the  State.  I, 
therefore,  will  pardon  the  men  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary." 
Would  they  be  released  on  his  order? 

After  His  resurrection  our  Lord  as  the  Son  of  Man  tri- 
umphant over  sin  and  death,  said  to  the  apostolic  body, 
"All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Go 
ye  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  baptizing 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever 
I  have  commanded  you:  and,  lo,   I  am  with  you  alway, 

*  Orders  and  Uni^, — C.  Gore. 


THE  CHURCH  AND  ITS  OFFICERS  137 

even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.  Amen." '^  And  again: 
"As  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you.  And  v^rhen 
He  had  said  this,  He  breathed  on  them,  and  saith  unto  them, 
Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost ;  whose  soever  sins  ye  remit,  they 
are  remitted  unto  them  ;  and  whose  soever  sins  ye  retain,  they 
are  retained."^  The  Catholic  Church  teaches,  and  has  taught 
always  and  everywhere,  that  no  other  commission  and  no 
other  authority  has  ever  been  given  than  the  one  given  to 
the  Apostles,  and  to  be  a  minister  in  the  Catholic  Church, 
an  ambassador  of  Christ,  a  Steward  of  the  Mysteries,  one 
must  receive  authority  and  power  from  one  who  has  him- 
self received  from  a  successor  of  the  Apostles  the  authority 
and  power  to  convey  it.  This  is  the  doctrine  of  Apostolic 
Succession.  It  is  held  by  two-thirds  of  the  Christians  in 
the  world  today,  and  for  fifteen  hundred  years  it  was  un- 
disputed. 

"The  ministry  in  the  Church,  perpetuated  in  accordance 
with  this  principle  of  devolution  has  taken  one  form,  vis.  that 
in  each  church  there  has  been  a  bishop  with  presbyters  and 
deacons ;  and  the  bishops  only  have  held  the  authority  to  or- 
dain others  to  the  ministry.  This  particular  form  of  ministry 
(monepiscopal)  undoubtedly  comes  from  the  apostolic  days. 
Its  establishment  as  the  one  form  of  church  ministry  may 
be  regarded  as  due  to  the  authority  of  the  church,  but  it  has 
been  as  deeply  and  universally  established  in  Christendom 
as  the  creed  or  the  canon  of  Scripture.  *  *  *  There  was  a 
wild  ferment  of  ideas  round  about  and  within  the  Church  in 
the  sub-apostolic  period :  but  men  were  to  look  to  the  bishops 
as  the  maintainers  of  the  tradition  of  sound  words.  Also 
in  their  hands  was  the  administration  of  the  sacraments  ; 
and  the  Christians  must  receive  from  no  hands  but  theirs  or 
their  delegates'  the  indispensable  food,  and  join  in  no 
eucharist  of  which  they  were  not  the  leaders.'^     Thus  the 

«  St.  Matt.  28:16-20. 

•  St.  Tohn  20:21-23. 

*  Italics  mine. 


138  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

Christian  body  in  each  place  was  kept  together.  Thus  the 
continuity  of  the  religious  tradition  was  maintained  and  *the 
hearts  of  the  children  were  turned  towards  their  fathers/ 
Moreover  the  local  president,  the  bishop,  received  his  author- 
ity not  from  the  congregation,  but  from  those  who  were 
bishops  before  him,  back  to  the  apostles  and  apostolic  men. 
Therefore,  even  in  the  smallest  community,  the  bishop 
represented  the  great  church;  and  the  fellowship  of  the 
bishops  amongst  themselves  kept  all  the  local  churches  to- 
gether. It  kept  each  little  congregation  in  conscious  fellow- 
ship with  a  body  wide  as  the  world.  Thus  the  bishops  stood 
for  local  cohesion,  for  continuity,  and  for  Catholicity." 

"History  makes  it  evident  that  the  forces  which  tend 
toward  division  w^ere  at  work  in  the  church  from  the  first. 
'Views'  in  religion  were  never  more  prevalent — are  not  more 
prevalent  now — than  in  the  second  century.  The  influence  of 
schismatical  personalities  was  never  more  deeply  felt.  Local 
jealousies  and  congregational  antipathies  were  then  as  now 
a  part  of  human  nature.  What  kept  Christians  together, 
on  the  whole  so  successfully,  was  this  universally  understood 
obligation  of  the  Christians  to  adhere  to  the  apostolic 
ministry."  ^ 

In  the  sixteenth  century  the  storm  known  as  the  Refor- 
mation broke  out  over  Europe.  The  arrogant  and  un- 
catholic  claims  of  the  Papacy,  its  spiritual  and  political 
power,  the  corruption  in  the  church  denounced  by  all  right- 
minded  men,  clergy  and  laity  alike,  and  the  failure  of  the 
Councils  of  the  fifteenth  century  to  effect  reforms,  are  re- 
sponsible for  the  judgment  and  catastrophe  that  rent  western 
Christendom.  The  reformers,  Luther,  Zwingli  and  Calvin, 
differing  in  many  things,  "are  at  one,"  says  Bishop  Gore, 
"in  basing  the  church  upon  the  preaching  of  the  pure  word 
of  God,  which  they  could  not  find  in  *the  Pope's  church' : 
and  in  repudiating  with  contempt  the  idea  that  the  power 

^  Orders  and  Unity. — C.  Gore. 


THE  CHURCH  AND  ITS  OFFICERS  139 

to  ordain  pastors  for  the  true  church  of  Christ  depended 
upon  succession  to  the  officers — whether  bishops  or  priests 
— of  that  communion  of  which  Calvin  said,  'the  form  of  the 
legitimate  church  is  not  to  be  found  either  in  any  one  of 
their  congregations  or  in  the  body  at  large.'  " 

"This  view  of  the  Reformation  would  be  accepted  by  the 
vast  majority  of  Protestants  to-day.  There  exists,  however, 
a  school  of  Presbyterian  theologians  who  seek  to  maintain, 
apparently,  the  whole  principle  of  apostolic  succession,  only 
contending  that  the  power  of  ordination  belongs  always 
essentially  to  the  presbyter  as  well  as  the  bishop,  and  can 
be  validly  exercised  by  him,  at  least  on  an  emergency.  On 
this  basis  they  would  maintain  that  the  valid  succession  has 
been  maintained  in  the  Presbyterian  churches ;  and  would 
draw  a  distinction  between  the  Presbyterians  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  mass  of  the  Protestant  bodies,  Congregation- 
alists,  Baptists,  Methodists,  &c.,  on  the  other." 

"There  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  evidence  that,  on  the 
catholic  principle  of  orders  to  which  they  appeal,  they  could 
justify  the  claim  that  the  Presbyterian  churches  have  'main- 
tained the  succession,'  even  if  the  fundamental  identity  of 
presbyter  and  bishop  were  admitted.  Certainly,  as  I  have 
said,  the  need  for  the  maintenance  of  such  a  succession  from 
the  mediaeval  priesthood  would  have  been  indignantly 
repudiated  by  the  founders  of  the  Reformed  churches." 
(Italics  mine.) 

"But  I  speak  with  much  more  certainty  when  I  say  that  the 
claim  that  a  sixteenth-century  presbyter  had,  even  on  an 
emergency,  the  same  authority  as  a  bishop  to  ordain,  is  totally 
unjustifiable.  The  catholic  principle  of  orders  is  that  a  man 
must  have  received  the  authorization  to  perform  whatever 
ministry  he  can  validly  perform  by  devolution  from  above." 

"These  Scottish  divines  appeal  to  catholic  principles 
and  church  law,  and  on  catholic  principles  and  church  law 


140  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

they  have,  it  must  be  emphatically  said,  no  case  at  all.  The 
sixteenth  century  presbyters  who  took  part  in  ordaining  the 
reformed  pastors,  to  do  them  justice,  do  not  seem  to  have 
claimed  to  do  so  because  they  were  priests  under  the  old 
succession ;  but  if  they  had  done  so,  they  would  have  been 
claiming  a  power  which,  according  to  the  undisputed  mind 
of  the  church,  they  had  never  received."    (Italics  mine.) 

"I  revert,  then,  to  what  is,  I  believe,  'the  fundamental 
religious  principle  of  the  whole  Reformation  movement,* 
vis.  the  repudiation  of  the  conception  that  authority  to 
minister  is  given  in  the  church  only  by  devolution  from 
above,  on  the  principle  of  succession  to  the  original  apostolic 
ministry.  I  believe  that  in  repudiating  this  principle  the 
Reformed  churches  were — with  whatever  excuse — repu- 
diating a  law  of  divine  authority  in  the  church,  and  also  an 
essential  principle  of  the  church's  continuous  life."^ 

The  difficulty  in  our  discussions  of  Christian  unity  with 
Protestants  is  our  different  point  of  view.  The  Church  to 
Protestants  is  a  human  organization,  the  historic  episcopate 
a  question  of  order  and  government,  and  the  whole  propo- 
sition purely  utilitarian,  so  we  must  expect  them  to  consider 
us  narrow,  though  we  belong  to  the  larger  part  of  Christen- 
dom. Protestantism  is  a  very  small  part.  Then,  too,  most 
of  them  know  very  little  of  their  own  early  history.  They 
do  not  know  that  they  have  come  back  to  things  for 
which  they  left  the  Church,  and  have  given  up  their 
own  distinctive  teaching.  May  we  not  therefore  say 
to  them,  "You  have  tried  your  experiment ;  you  thought  you 
knew  better  than  your  mother  how  to  win  the  world  for 
Christ  and  make  men  holy ;  but  you  have  failed  and  had  to 
come  to  her  ways — come  home."  "You  w^ere  sorely  tried 
and  not  given  the  help  and  encouragement  in  your  work  and 
ideals  that  you  should  have  had  from  your  mother,"  we  may 
say  to  the  Methodists ;  "your  mother  is  greatly  to  blame  and 

*  Orders  and  Unity. — C.  Gore. 


THE  CHURCH  AND  ITS  OFFICERS         141 

acknowledges  her  fault,  but  she  is  your  mother — come 
home."  Many  hear  this  call,  see  the  heavenly  vision  and 
come ;  others  do  not  see  it  or  hear  the  call,  and  some  turn 
away  unwilling  to  make  the  sacrifice. 

The  Evangelical  Protestant  in  coming  into  the  communion 
of  the  Church,  takes  a  step  forward  and  comes  home.  He 
renounces  nothing  of  his  past,  he  just  goes  on.  But  a  Protest- 
ant (or  Anglican)  who  goes  to  Rome  makes  a  declaration 
of  renunciation  and  denunciation  of  his  past,  which  is  quite 
different.  While  we  find  much  to  admire  and  learn  from 
the  Roman  Com.munion,  we  cannot  fail  to  denounce  and 
repudiate  the  narrovv'ing  of  tlie  Catholic  Faith,  by  the  un- 
historic  claims  of  the  Papacy  which  have  divided  Christen- 
dom. But  we  all  have  sinned — Catholic  and  Protestant — 
Anglican,  Greek  and  Latin — and  we  must  all  repent. 

To  sum  up : — the  Holy  Catholic  Church  in  which  we  con- 
fess our  faith  in  the  creeds  is  a  supernatural  society,  its 
members  endowed  with  a  supernatural  life,  its  officers  exer- 
cising supernatural  powers  for  the  benefit  of  the  Body,  and 
its  Sacraments  conveying  supernatural  life  and  gifts.  The 
officers  of  the  Church  are  "Stewards  of  the  Mysteries,"  and 
the  duty  of  a  steward  is  to  guard  the  treasure  and  to  dispense 
it  to  those  entitled  to  receive  it.  "Give  not  that  which  is 
holy  unto  the  dogs"  (unbelievers),  "neither  cast  ye  your 
pearls  before  swine"  (the  indifferent  and  scoffers),  "lest 
tliey  trample  them  under  their  feet,  and  turn  again  and  rend 
you,"  our  Lord  said  in  His  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  In  this 
He  was  endorsing  the  teaching  and  training  given  by  God 
to  the  Jewish  Church.. 

When  men  see  the  heavenly  vision  they  either  go  sorrow- 
fully away,  like  the  young  man  who  came  to  Jesus  but  would 
not  make  the  sacrifice  to  get  it,  or  they  follow  it,  like  St.  Paul 
who  gave  up  everything — pride,  old  ties,  future  prospects, 
ease — everything  for  Jesus,  the  Pearl  of  great  price,  found 
10 


142  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

in  His  Church  and  Sacraments,  the  extension  of  the  In- 
carnation. 

When  the  Church  arises  in  her  Pentecostal  might,  holding 
up  in  preaching,  in  Sacrament  and  in  life,  Jesus  Christ  and 
Him  crucified,  and  calling  men  to  repentance,  not  three 
thousand,  but  three  hundred  thousand,  pricked  to  the  heart, 
will  cry  out  "What  must  I  do  to  be  saved." 

"Thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee" — that  is  the  message  this 
weary,  sin-sick  world  is  longing  for,  and  that  is  the  message 
the  Church  is  commissioned  to  give  to  the  penitent.  "But 
that  ye  may  know  that  the  Son  of  Man  hath  power  on  earth 
to  forgive  sins,  (then  saith  He  to  the  sick  of  the  palsy,) 
Arise,  take  up  thy  bed,  and  go  unto  thine  house.  And  He 
arose,  and  departed  to  his  house.  But  when  the  multitudes 
saw  it,  they  marvelled,  and  glorified  God,  which  had  given 
such  power  unto  men."  ^  When  the  world  learns  that  Apos- 
tolic succession  means  this,  there  will  be  no  further  boggling 
over  "the  Historic  Episcopate."    The  issue  will  be  clear. 

O  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  at  thy  first  coming  didst 
send  thy  messenger  to  prepare  thy  way  before  thee ; 
Grant  that  the  ministers  and  stewards  of  thy  mysteries 
may  likewise  so  prepare  and  make  ready  thy  way,  by 
turning  the  hearts  of  the  disobedient  to  the  wisdom  of 
the  just,  that  at  thy  second  coming  to  judge  the  world 
we  may  be  found  an  acceptable  people  in  thy  sight,  who 
livest  and  reignest  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit, 
ever  one  God,  world  without  end. 

•St.  Matt.  9:6-8. 


THE  ONE  BODY 

The  Church  in  which  we  profess  our  faith  is  described 
to  us  as  one,  holy,  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church — holy 
because  indwelt  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  her  work  to  produce 
sanctity — Catholic  because  she  is  for  all  ages  and  all  peoples, 
and  holds  and  teaches  the  whole  truth — Apostolic  because 
built  upon  the  Apostolic  foundation — and  one  because  of 
the  one  life  within  her,^  These  characteristics  are  not  per- 
fectly realized  as  yet ;  they  are  matters  of  faith  but  they  are 
all  in  the  Body  and  the  evidences  are  there.  When  we 
make  this  claim  Protestants  on  one  hand  and  Romanists 
on  the  other  say,  "The  only  logical  thing,  if  you  believe  this, 
is  to  be  a  Roman  Catholic.  Why  not  be  the  whole  thing?" 
And  we  answer,  "Because  Rome  is  not  the  'whole  thing,'  and 
we  prefer  to  be  Catholic  not  Roman,  American  or  Anglican, 
just  Catholics  belonging  to  the  American  Church."  We  will 
not  narrow  our  title  or  our  inheritance.  We  protest  against 
the  claim  of  Rome  to  be  the  whole  Church,  and  this  protest 
gains  enormously  in  weight  by  being  joined  to  the  protest 
of  the  Great  Eastern  Church  with  its  millions  of  CathoHc 
Christians.  Its  Orders  and  Sacraments  are  recognized  by 
Rome ;  but  no  Methodist  could  use  stronger  language  in 
denouncing  the  Roman  and  Papal  claims  than  the  Bishops 
and  Patriarchs  of  the  Eastern  Church. 

We  may  well  then  ask  on  what  does  Rome  base  her 
arrogant  claim,  which  has  rent  the  Body  of  Christ.  First,  she 

1  "The  Church  preserves  her  unity  by  maintaining  continuity  in  faith  and 
order  with  the  Society  which  was  founded  by  our  Lord  and  planted  in  the 
world  by  His  Apostles.  Continuity  in  order  and  also,  to  a  great  extent,  in 
faith,  is  maintained  through  the  Episcopate.  So  far  all  the  historical  churches 
of  Christendom  are  agreed  and  nave  been  agreed  from  the  second  century 
onward.  The  Roman  Church  stands  alone  in  adding  a  further  condition." — 
The  Holy  Catholic  church.     H.  B.  Swete. 

143 


144  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

claims  that  our  Lord  gave  St.  Peter  a  special  commission  and 
authority  in  the  Apostolic  Body  when  He  said  to  him,  "Thou 
art  Peter,  and  on  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church."  Second, 
that  the  Bishops  of  Rome  are  the  successors  of  St.  Peter 
and  inherit  this  special  commission  and  authority.  Third, 
that  a  visible  Church  requires  a  visible  head ;  that  this  visible 
head  as  the  Vicar  of  Christ  is  infallible  when  he  speaks  B.v 
Cathedra,  that  is,  as  the  head  of  the  Church.  Bishop  Gore, 
in  his  book  on  "The  Roman  Catholic  Claims,"  has  answered 
these  and  other  questions  very  fully,  and  has  also  shown  the 
position  of  the  English  Church  clearly,  and  educated 
Churchmen  and  women  will  do  well  to  read  this  book.  To 
stimulate  this  interest  and  answer  these  questions  the  fol- 
lowing extracts  are  given : 

For  the  answer  to  the  first  question  we  must  go  to  "our 
Lord's  own  subsequent  words  and  conduct" ;  to  "the  lan- 
guage of  the  Acts  and  Apostolic  Epistles,  including  St. 
Peter's  own" ;  and  to  "the  interpretation  of  the  Fathers."  ^ 
From  all  these  we  learn  that  the  Church  of  the  first  centuries 
held  that  "what  is  promised  to  St.  Peter  in  virtue  of  his  con- 
fession of  Christ's  name  is  bestowed  by  our  Lord  equally  on 
all  after  His  Resurrection,  and  St.  Peter's  Primacy  which  he 
undoubtedly  held  in  the  apostolic  college,  carries  with  it 
no  distinctive  powers,  but  is  a  personal  leadership  amongst 
equals.  *  *  *  The  Apostles  at  Jerusalem  are  described 
as  'sending  him'  with  St.  John  to  Samaria.  Later  again  he 
occupies  no  governing  position  in  the  Council  at  Jerusalem. 
Christ's  revelation  to  him,  indeed,  when  he  opened  the  door 
to  the  Gentiles,  was  a  fact  which  must  have  been  conclusive 
of  the  question  before  the  meeting;  but  the  formal  authority, 
the  formal  'I  decide,'  comes  from  St.  James,  and  the  decree 
goes  out  in  the  name  of  'the  Apostles  and  elders'  gener- 
ally.    Moreover,  St.  Peter  retires  into  the  background  of 

s  The   Romaa   Catholic  Claims. — C,   Gore.     Longmans,   Green   &  Co,     Paper, 
25  cents. 


THE  ONE  BODY  145 

history  after  this,  as  St.  Paul  rises  into  prominence.  The 
history  would  seem  to  suggest  that  St.  Peter's  special  func- 
tion was  one  which  had  to  do  with  the  opening  of  Church 
history,  and  this  impression  is  augmented  by  the  utterly 
'unpapaF  tone  of  St.  Peter's  own  Epistles.  *  *  *  As  to 
the  evidence  of  the  rest  of  the  New  Testament,  it  goes  very 
strongly  in  the  direction  of  minimizing  the  position  of  St. 
Peter.  The  'twelve  foundations'  of  the  Church  equal  and 
co-ordinate  are  the  twelve  Apostles,  and  this  implication 
of  St.  John's  vision  accords  well  with  St.  Paul's  language." 

Second,  "The  earliest  Father  then  who  mentions  the  sub- 
ject, St.  Irenaeus,  regards  the  Roman  Church  as  having 
been  founded  concurrently  and  equally  by  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Paul.  In  fact  (as  we  find  from  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the 
Romans)  there  was  a  considerable  body  of  Christians  at  the 
capital,  before  any  Apostle  had  been  amongst  them,  during 
his  first  and  second  captivities,  and  St.  Peter  was  at  Rome 
probably  when  he  wrote  his  first  Epistle — certainly  before 
his  martyr's  death,  which  he  shared  there  with  St.  Paul, 
perhaps  in  A.  D.  67." 

"The  prominence  in  which  the  Christian  Church  of  the 
capital  of  the  world  must  have  inevitably  found  herself 
among  other  Churches,  the  glory  which  accrued  to  her  apos- 
tolic and  other  martyrs,  and  not  least,  the  early  munificence 
of  her  almsgiving,  gave  the  Roman  Church  a  special  position 
in  Christendom  from  the  earliest  days."  ^ 

"It  would  not  appear  that  any  kind  of  authority  was 
attached  to  the  Roman  see  during  the  early  centuries  even 
in  the  West,  except  such  moral  authority  or  prestige  as  must 
have  belonged  inevitably  to  so  great  an  apostolic  see.  *  *  * 
At  an  unknown  moment,  before  the  middle  of  the  third 
century,  the  Church  of  Rome,  which  up  to  that  time  had 
been  Greek  in  language — alike  in  her  liturgy  and  her  the- 

»  "Thus  Dr.  Salmon  Introd.  to  N.  T.,  p.  565  n.,  calls  attention  to  the  fact 
'how  all  through  the  first  two  centuries  the  importance  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
is  merged  in  the  importance  of  his  Church.'  "     Roman  Catholic  Claims. — C.  Gore. 


146  THE  GREEN  BOOK  . 

ology — a  Greek  colony  in  the  Latin  city,  became  perhaps 
somewhat  suddenly  a  Latin  Church,  and  in  consequence  of 
this  change  of  language,  so  completely  forgot  her  Greek 
past  that  in  the  fourth  century  she  was  ignorant  of  an  inci- 
dent in  her  life  which  the  coincidences  of  modern  discovery 
have  laid  open  to  our  eyes." 

From  the  fifth  century  the  power  and  claims  of  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  began  to  grow,  but  slowly  and  gradually. 
"St.  Gregory  the  Great  can  repudiate  as  pregnant  with 
Satanic  arrogance  the  title  of  'universal  bishop'  which  after- 
wards appears  in  the  forged  decretals  as  a  papal  title,  and 
which  so  clearly  describes  the  papal  claim.  The  popes  of 
the  seventh  century  acquiesce  in  pope  Honorius'  letter  being 
subjected  to  the  judgment  of  a  general  Council,  and  submit 
to,  and  accept,  his  condemnation.  For  many  centuries  each 
pope  on  his  accession  condemned  among  formal  heretics 
one  of  his  infallible  predecessors.  The  papal  claim,  which 
grevv^  always  with  the  growth  of  actual  power,  reached  its 
extreme  point  as  far  as  the  claim  of  authority  is  concerned 
in  the  Bull  Unam  Sanctam  of  Boniface  VIII,  A.  D.  1302. 
The  authority  here  claimed  is  absolute  and  universal  in  the 
secular  and  spiritual  spheres  alike.  The  doctrine  of  infal- 
libility came  to  the  fore  when  the  logic  of  events  had  demon- 
strated the  untenability  of  the  theocratic  claim  over  the 
world.  But  the  doctrine  was  the  opinion  of  a  school  only, 
not  a  dogma.  It  was  repudiated  with  the  most  genuine 
earnestness  and  without  reproof  up  to  a  recent  date,  as 
for  example  in  a  document  as  common  as  Keenan's  Contro- 
versial Catechism  it  was  declared  to  be  'no  article  of  Catho- 
lic belief.' " 

Third,  this  question  of  a  visible  head  to  the  Church 
"cannot  be  summed  up  better  than  in  a  typical  quotation  from 
St.  Augustine,  which  puts  this  thought  in  vivid  simplicity: 
'Since  the  whole  Christ  is  made  up  of  the  head  and  the  body 
— the  Head  is  our  Saviour  Himself,  who  suffered  under  Pen- 


THE  ONE  BODY  147 

tius  Pilate,  who  now,  after  He  has  risen  from  the  dead, 
sits  at  the  right  hand  of  God :  but  His  body  is  the  Church ; 
not  this  Church  or  that,  but  the  Church  scattered  over  all 
the  world  ;  nor  that  only  which  exists  among  men  now  living, 
but  those  belonging  to  it  also  who  were  before  us  and  are 
to  be  after  us  to  the  end  of  the  world.  For  the  whole 
Church,  made  up  of  all  the  faithful,  because  all  the  faithful 
are  members  of  Christ,  has  its  Head  situate  in  the  heavens 
which  governs  this  body :  though  It  is  separated  from  their 
sight,  yet  It  is  bound  to  them  by  love.'  "  The  Church  on 
earth  is  not  a  complete  thing  in  itself.  "The  Church  on 
earth  is  but  the  visible  portion  of  a  great  invisible  whole 
bound  altogether  in  the  same  order  of  supernatural  life." 

"There  was  never,  perhaps,  a  time  of  confusion  in  the 
Christian  Church  equal  to  the  second  century.  Christianity 
seemed  to  the  philosopher  outside  a  chaos  of  dissentient 
sects,  'agreeing  in  nothing  but  the  name.'  *  *  *  jf  q^qv  a 
clear  rule  of  faith,  a  papal  voice,  a  centre  to  Christendom  was 
needed,  it  was  then.  But  not  only  had  the  Church  at  that 
time  to  struggle  through  her  difficulties  without  an  infallible 
teacher,  she  had  not  even  yet  formulated  her  creeds  or 
settled  her  canon.  Once  more,  the  years  of  the  Arian  con- 
troversy were  years  of  deepest  distress.  Again  a  papal 
voice  of  authority  was  sorely  needed,  if  ever.  But  in  the 
moment  of  uttermost  strain  and  deepest  distress,  the  pope 
did  something  very  different  from  giving  a  clear  voice  for 
the  guidance  of  Christians.  He  repudiated  Athanasius  the 
great  upholder  of  the  truth,  and  left  him  alone  'against  the 
world.'  The  fact  is,  the  argument  from  the  supposed  needs 
of  man  to  the  institution  of  an  infallible  teaching  chair  breaks 
down  historically  from  the  fact  that,  in  the  hours  of  greatest 
need  in  the  Church,  there  was  no  remedy  such  as  it  is  now 
suggested  that  man  imperatively  requires — there  was  no 
quick  method  of  finding  out  the  truth.  And  indeed  is  not  this 
difficulty,  this  requirement  of  patience,  in  finding  out  the 


148  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

truth,  the  very  probation  of  faith?  It  is  just  what  is  suited 
to  our  time  of  discipHne.  At  any  rate  we  have  no  right  to 
claim  of  God  the  removal  of  certain  difficulties.  We  must 
take  His  revelation  under  the  conditions  on  which  He  gives 
it,  and  endure  what  the  fathers  endured.  We  make  a  great 
mistake  about  the  essence  of  faith  if  we  imagine  that  faith 
is  merely  the  surrendering  of  our  reason  and  the  passive 
acceptance  of  an  unmistakable  voice  of  external  authority. 
Faith,  in  the  Bible,  is  opposed  not  to  reason,  but  to  sight. 
It  was  not  Christ's  will  to  reveal  Himself  beyond  all  possi- 
bility of  doubt.  He  did  not  utter  a  dogma  about  Himself 
and  bid  men  bow  down  to  it.  *  *  *  It  should  never  be 
forgotten  that  the  saints  in  Jerusalem  upon  whose  forehead 
was  stamped  the  mark  of  the  divine  approval,  were  not  those 
who  had  successfully  counteracted,  but  those  who  felt  and 
groaned  over  the  evils  under  which  God's  people  suffered."  ^ 

While  on  the  whole  the  Roman  Church  and  the  Popes 
stood  for  orthodoxy  through  the  controversies  on  the  Trin- 
ity and  the  Incarnation,  individual  Popes  did  fail  at  impor- 
tant crises.  "Nothing  can  override  the  evidence  of  the  formal 
action  of  the  6th  General  Council  in  680,  when  it  con- 
demned Honorius  the  Pope  among  the  Monothelite  heretics. 
'With  them  we  anathematize,'  says  the  Council,  *and  cast 
out  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  Honorius,  who  was 
pope  of  the  elder  Rome,  because  we  found  that  he  followed 
Sergius'  opinion  in  all  respects  and  confirmed  his  impious 
dogmas.'  *  *  *  When  in  the  extreme  crisis  of  the  conflict 
for  the  Nicene  faith  the  Pope  Liberius  'subscribed  to  hereti- 
cal depravity'  (so  St.  Jerome  speaks  of  his  signing  a  com- 
promising creed),  abandoned  Athanasius  and  notified  that 
he  had  separated  him  from  his  communion,  St.  Athanasius 
betrays  no  other  feeling  than  that  of  sorrow  at  the  fall  of 
a  good  man  and  anxiety  to  palliate  his  weakness :  *he  speaks 

*  "Readers  of  history  hardly  need  to  be  told  that  the  Bishop  of  Rome  was 
never  asked  to  give  either  mission  or  jurisdiction  to  anybody  for  the  first  six 
centuries  of  the  Christian  era." — Quoted  in   Roman  Catholic  Claims. — C.  Gore. 


THE  ONE  BODY  149 

with  a  noble  tenderness  of  the  fall  of  both  Liberius  and 
Hosius'  (of  Cordova).  Now  we  contend  that  if  anything 
in  the  world  can  be  certain,  it  is  certain  that  St.  Athanasius, 
had  he  had  any  idea  of  the  bishop  of  Rome  being  in  a  unique 
sense  the  guardian  of  the  faith,  much  more  any  notion  of 
his  infallibility,  must  have  adopted  another  tone  in  regard 
to  his  fall." 

"It  is  indeed  to  'triumph  over  history'  for  the  Pope  to 
assert  that  in  decreeing  his  infallibility  he  is  'faithfully 
adhering  to  the  tradition  received  from  the  first  beginnings 
of  the  Christian  faith.'  The  doctrine  of  the  Papacy  is  so 
manifestly  a  gradual  growth  by  accretion  that  no  one  can 
possibly,  with  his  eyes  upon  the  facts  of  history,  regard  it 
as  part  of  the  faith  'once  for  all  delivered.'  *  *  *  The 
'Nag's  Head'  fable  was  an  impudent  assertion  of  the 
Romanists  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Its 
utter  baselessness  is  now  admitted  on  all  hands."  ^~^~'' 

"Roman  writers  generally  bid  us  use  the  living  voice  of 
the  Church  as  a  witness  to  what  the  Church  of  the  past  did 
think,  and  appear  to  suppose  the  argument  of  the  'difficulty' 
of  reading  the  past  records  of  the  Church  a  sufficient  reason 
for  ignoring  them.  Thus  the  v/hole  of  modern  Roman  liter- 
ature has  become  saturated  with  a  spirit  of  unfaithfulness 
to  history  and  to  fact.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  Romanism 
in  the  Church  from  the  fifth  century  downward,  and  this 
they  produce  with  an  excessive  willingness — they  have  it  at 
their  fingers'  ends.  But  w^e  have  ceased  almost  to  hope  to 
find  in  a  modern  Roman  wa"iter  a  candid  review  of  the  whole 
facts  of  a  case  where  the  Roman  claims  or  dogmas  are  in 

_  *  "To  ignore  all  contemporary  sources  of  information  and  to  compile  narra- 
tives from  the  fictions  of  late  or  romancing  authors  is  the  Ultramontane  way 
of   writing  history." — Roman  Catholic  Claims. — C.   Gore. 

*  "The  condemnation  of  Pope  Ilonorius  for  heresy  is  recorded  in  the  Roman 
Breviaries  until  the  sixteenth  century;  at  which  period  the  name  of  Honorius 
suddenly  disapi)ears.  The  tlieory  of  Papal  Infallibility  was  at  tliat  time  being 
raiidly  developed.  A  fact  opposed  it.  Tlie  evidence  for  the  fact  is  suppressed." 
Quoted  from  Willis  in    Roman  Catholic  Claims. — C.  Gore. 

^  "Has  God  then  need  of  your  falsehoods,  that  you  speak  deceitfully  for 
Him?" — Quoted  from   Perc   Gratry   in    Roman    Catholic    Claims. — C.   Gore. 


150  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

question.  Candor,  an  attempt  to  fairly  produce  the  whole 
case,  a  love  of  the  whole  truth — this  seems  to  have  vanished 
from  their  literature,  and  its  place  is  taken  by  an  abundant 
skill  in  making  the  best  of  all  that  looks  Romewards  in 
Church  history,  and  ignoring  the  rest.  Indeed  it  seems  to 
be  not  only  in  dealing  with  the  Papal  claims  that  the  Roman 
Church  is  disquaHfied  from  dealing  broadly  and  frankly 
with  facts.  She  has  adopted  a  fatal  tone  of  distrust  towards 
the  human  reason  altogether — so  that  she  seems  by  her 
whole  method  to  put  herself  at  a  disadvantage  in  deahng 
with  some  of  the  most  pressing  problems  of  our  time  which 
are  coming  up  for  solution." 

"We  are  not  disposed  at  all  to  question  the  unique  position 
held  in  Western  Christendom  by  the  see  of  Rome.  We  are 
not  disposed  to  minimize  the  magnificence  of  the  vocation 
assigned  to  her,  especially  in  view  of  the  Church's  need  of 
centralization  in  the  days  when  the  Western  Empire  was 
decaying  or  gone.  We  would  fain  not  fall  short  of  what 
is  fitting  in  our  veneration  of  the  greatest  of  Christian 
patriarchates.  But  no  such  veneration  can  justify  us  in 
assenting  to  any  claim  she  likes  to  make,  or  in  shutting  our 
eyes  to  the  fact  that  the  acceptance  of  these  claims  is  only 
possible  on  the  basis  either  of  a  'Manichean'  disbelief  in  the 
capacity  of  the  human  reason  to  estimate  the  plainest  facts 
of  history,  or  of  a  doctrine  of  development  which  would  cut 
at  the  root  of  the  patristic  principle  that  in  Christian  doc- 
trine 'whatever  is  truly  new'  or  really  partial,  *is  certainly 
false,'  " 

"The  English  Church  at  the  Reformation  claims  to  reform 
herself,  and  there  is  no  catholic  principle  which  forbade  her 
to  do  it.  She  did  not  withdraw  herself  in  so  doing  from  the 
catholic  Faith  or  the  catholic  Church ;  indeed  she  professed 
her  intention  to  remain  as  fully  in  submission  to  the  Church 
as  before.  *  *  *  The  Reformation  in  England  was  not 
primarily  a  doctrinal  movement  at  all.    In  its  first  intention 


THE  ONE  BODY  151 

it  was  a  movement  to  repudiate  papal  usurpation,  and  good 
care  was  taken  to  emphasize  the  stabihty  of  the  Anghcan 
position  as  regards  doctrine.  *  *  *  The  ship  of  the  Church 
went  through  a  great  storm — she  lost  a  great  deal,  not  only 
in  decoration  and  accoutrements,  but  in  rigging  and  in  bul- 
warks, but  she  came  out  of  that  storm — the  ship.  So  far 
then  we  can  accept  the  statement  of  our  case  from  Cardinal 
Newman's  lips :  'There  was  a  very  trying  interval  for  the 
Church  of  England  in  the  sixteenth  century,  when  it  ran 
great  risk  of  being  wrecked ;  but  it  weathered  the  storm, 
and  its  good  fortune  may  be  regarded  as  a  providence  and 
become  a  positive  argument  for  its  being  what  ...  its 
great  history  betokens.'  *  *  *  The  whole  Church  is  our 
mother.  It  is  the  doctrinal  heritage  of  the  whole  Church 
that  now  in  the  days  of  completer  knowledge,  as  the  mists 
clear  away,  is  coming  out  in  its  indissoluble  coherence  before 
the  eyes  of  men,  and  being  taught  to  the  children  of  the 
Church.  *  *  *  The  evils  of  a  Church  into  which  by  God's 
providence  we  were  new-born,  granted  she  be  a  Church, 
are  not  an  excuse  for  leaving  her,  but  a  spur  to  action.  And 
I  am  sure  that  we  Anglicans  feel  a  hearty  thankfulness  to 
Almighty  God,  that  He  has  caused  our  lot  to  be  cast  in  a 
Church,  which,  however  deeply  she  has  sinned,  can  acknowl- 
edge her  sins ;  which,  however  great  her  defects  even  in  her 
authoritative  formulas,  is  not  prevented,  by  any  arrogation 
to  herself  of  what  belongs  to  a  greater  whole,  from  confess- 
ing them  and  openly  seeking  to  reform  them.  Better  any- 
thing than  to  be  unable  to  bear  the  light:  better  anything 
than  to  be  unable  to  face  the  facts  of  history  and  frankly 
accept  them:  better  any  evils  than  to  have  to  speak  deceit- 
fully for  God." 

We  may  also  be  heartily  thankful  that  our  lot  is  cast  in  a 
Church  that  does  not  seek  political  power.  Neither  our 
Lord  nor  His  Apostles  claimed  for  themselves  or  their  suc- 
cessors such  power.     On  the  contrary,  they  refused  it  and 


152  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

were  content  to  be  good  citizens,  rendering  "unto  Caesar 
the  things  that  are  Caesar's."     Pilate  knew  it  was  not  be- 
cause He  made  Himself  a   King  like  to   Caesar  that  the 
Jews  sought  to  put  Jesus  to  death,  but  because  He  refused 
to  be  such  a  King.    To-day  we  see  the  Bishop  of  Rome  claim- 
ing as  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  political  world  power,  send- 
ing ambassadors  to  every  country  that  will  receive  them, 
instead  of  allowing  national   bishops  to  take  care  of   the 
interests  of  the  Church,  and  denying  to  national  churches 
the  right  of  self-government.     That  has  been  the  trouble 
in  France.    A  Frenchman  is  incurably  patriotic,  and  almost 
incurably  religious.     These  things  should  go  together.     In 
the   Catholic   religion   they   do,   but   in   the   Roman   system 
they  do  not.    Before  the  w^ar  more  than  one  leading  French- 
man said,  "I  am  a  good  Catholic,  1  believe  and  practice  all 
the  Church  requires,  but  if  I  exercise  the  right  of  private 
judgment  and  vote  against  the  orders  of  the  Church,  as  I 
believe  best  for  my  country  and  not  in  any  way  hurtful  to 
the    Church,    I    am    deprived   of   the    Sacraments    until    I 
acknowledge  I  was  wrong  and  promise  to  disobey  no  more, 
and  I  am  classed  as  a  modernist  and  an  unbeliever  until  I 
do  this."    It  was  this  policy  and  the  belief  that  the  Church 
was  working  for  a  revolution  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Re- 
public, that  led  to  the  separation  of  Church  and  State,  and 
threw  so  many  of  the  people  into  unbelief.     In   1908  the 
editors  of  two  papers,  "Justice  de  Sociale"  and  "Vie  Catho- 
lique,"  were  suspended  for  advising  Frenchmen  to  exercise 
their  rights  as  citizens  and  vote.     In  France  as  well  as  in 
Italy,  Roman  Catholics  were  forbidden  at  that  time  to  vote 
at  all. 

The  writer  when  in  Normandy  and  Tourraine,  shortl}' 
before  the  war,  found  only  a  handful  of  old  people  in  the 
churches,  and  was  told  many  would  not  even  send  for  a 
priest  when  dying.  In  the  Austrian  Tyrol  a  little  later, 
speaking  to  an  intelligent  physician  of  the  differences  in  the 


THE  ONE  BODY  153 

churches  there,  he  said  his  people  were  not  as  extreme  as  the 
French  and  had  not  given  up  their  rehgion,  but  the  Church 
was  losing  its  hold.  If  an  order  was  given  in  Church  to 
vote  a  certain  way,  the  men  got  up  and  walked  out ;  very 
few  men  went  to  confession,  and  the  number  seeking  the 
priesthood  that  used  to  be  so  large,  was  now  small. 

The  French  Church  has  never  been  ultramontane  except 
in  name,  and  has  always  looked  with  longing  eyes  across 
the  channel,  and  expressed  a  friendly  feeling  for  the  English 
Church,  even  when  there  was  little  friendliness  felt  between 
the  two  nations.  Before  the  separation  of  Church  and  State 
in  France,  the  government  made  a  proposition  to  the  Pope 
practically  allowing  self-government  to  the  French  Church, 
which  the  Pope  asked  the  French  bishops  to  consider  and 
vote  upon.  It  is  said  all  but  two  voted  to  accept  it,  and 
the  Pope  found  out  how  each  bishop  stood,  which  was  what 
he  wanted.  It  is  this  meddling  in  politics,  this  seeking 
political  power,  not  opposition  to  the  Catholic  faith,  that  has 
alienated  the  people  of  France,  Italy  and  other  countries 
of  Europe  from  the  Church.  Wherever  Rome  has  the  power 
she  puts  on  the  screws.^  She  is  only  tolerant  when  forced 
to  be,  or  when  it  is  politic. 

We  may  indeed  be  thankful  that  we  do  not  have  to  choose 
between  our  duty  to  our  country  and  the  giving  up  our 
rights  as  Church  members.  No  one  in  the  Anglican  Com- 
munion is  deprived  of  the  Sacraments  because  he  speaks, 
acts,  or  votes  as  he  thinks  best  for  his  country.  It  is  this 
political  power  and  intrigue,  denied  by  Rome  here  but  known 
to   everyone   in   public   life,   not   the   Catholic   Faith,   that 

*  The  colony  of  Maryland  was  settled  first  by  Churchmen.  The  Rev.  John 
Yeo  and  Lord  Baltimore  both  wrote  from  Maryland  in  1676  that  there  were 
four  clergymen  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  Province,  v.'ith  decent  main- 
tenance. The  claim  has  frequently  been  made  that  the  whole  credit  for  religious 
toleration  in  Maryland  is  due  to  the  Roman  Catholics;  "but  the  records  go  to 
show  that  the  majority  of  those  responsible  for  it  were  members  of  the  Church 
of  England,  and  that  it  was  they  who  really  combined  to  protect  and  tolerate 
the  others."  The  Anglican  Church  in  this  country  was  fully  established,  with 
three  Bishops  and  other  ecclesiastical  organization,  several  years  before  the 
arrival  of  John  Carroll,  the  first  Roman  Bishop. — A  History  of  the  American 
Church. — Leighton  Coleman. 


154  THE  GREEN  BOOK  .     ^ 

American  people  dislike  and  that  makes  them  fear  a  yoke 
which  neither  we  nor  our  fathers  were  able  to  bear.  It 
would  indeed  be  a  calamity,  not  only  for  the  country  but 
even  more  for  the  Christian  religion,  if  the  Pope  and  his 
court  ever  gained  control  of  our  fair  land.  Unless  we  are 
faithless  to  our  trust  this  will  not  be,  we  may  believe. 

To  our  land  are  coming  thousands  of  lapsed  Roman 
Catholics  who  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  their  own 
Church.  Fr.  Capozzi,  a  former  Roman  priest  now  with  us, 
in  charge  of  a  congregation  of  Italians,  tells  in  his  book 
"Protestantism  and  the  Latin  Soul,"  that  the  Latin  cannot 
be  made  a  Protestant ;  he  will  be  Catholic  or  nothing.  It  is 
our  duty  to  look  after  these  lapsed  Roman  Catholics  and 
give  them  what  they  demand — Catholic  Faith  and  practice 
in  a  free  Catholic  Church.  It  has  never  been  our  practice 
to  try  to  make  converts  of  those  who  have  Catholic  Sacra- 
ments and  are  content  where  they  are;  but  with  those  who 
prefer  infidelity  to  infallibility,  or  who  are  asked  to  believe 
and  do  what  their  conscience  forbids,  and,  therefore,  cannot 
stay  in  the  Roman  Church,  the  case  is  different,  and  every 
year  we  receive  a  good  number  of  the  priests  and  lay  people. 
This  does  not  get  into  the  newspapers,  but  the  few  who  go 
from  us  (not  those  who  come  back)  get  large  headlines  as 
we  know.  The  control  of  the  press  (what  is  kept  out  even 
more  than  what  is  put  in)  by  any  body  of  people  is  a  very 
serious  matter. 

The  test  of  a  system  is  the  type  of  character  and  the  type 
of  corporate  life,  social  and  political,  it  tends  to  produce; 
and  the  test  of  the  Catholic  religion  is  the  Catholic  Church 
and  "the  lives  of  the  Saints ;  only  we  must  include  in  that 
term  a  wider  range  than  is  often  imagined."*  In  all  parts 
of  the  Catholic  Church  we  see  the  Catholic  character  pro- 
duced, but  different  in  type — East,  West  and  Anglican — 
for  there  is  always  variety  in  the  work  of  God  the  Holy 

•The  Fellowship  of  the  Mystery.— J.  N.   Figgis,  C.   R. 


THE  ONE  BODY  155 

Ghost.  It  heartens  us  when  we  are  discouraged  to  consider 
the  characters  produced  in  our  own  Communion,  some 
humble  ones  about  us  and  others  whose  written  words  make 
us  glad  even  more  by  what  they  are  than  what  they  say,  and 
we  say  to  ourselves  "as  long  as  our  Church  is  producing 
such  Catholic  characters  all  is  well."  Some  years  ago  an 
Englishman  was  talking  with  a  Roman  Catholic  in  the  portico 
of  St.  Peter's.  The  latter  asserted  that  the  English  Church 
did  not  produce  Catholic  priests  because  a  priest's  vocation 
was  written  on  his  countenance.  "That,"  said  he,  pointing 
to  a  nearby  priest,  "is  the  face  of  a  priest  and  a  saint,  and 
can  only  be  produced  in  the  Catholic  Church,"  and  "That," 
replied  the  Englishman,  "is  Canon  Carter,  of  Clewer." 

The  Latin  type  is  different,  as  we  know,  and  both  Angli- 
can and  Latin  have  the  defects  of  their  qualities.  So,  too, 
is  the  social  and  political  life  developed.  If  you  want  to 
study  Buddhism  you  must  study  it  in  India,  not  in  Boston ; 
and  if  you  want  to  study  Romanism  you  must  study  it  in 
Italy,  Spain,  Austria,  Mexico,  South  America,  etc.,  not  in 
England  and  America ;  and  if  you  want  to  study  the  Church 
of  England  you  must  not  study  it  in  France  or  Japan  but 
in  England,  where  it  has  been  in  power  for  centuries,  and 
has  had  a  chance  to  show  its  development.^^  We  have  all 
admired  the  wonderful  organization  in  the  Roman  Church 
derived  from  the  pagan  Roman  empire,  but  we  do  not  wor- 
ship organization  and  efficiency  as  we  did  some  years  ago, 
and  the  failure  of  Rome  to  protect  her  own  people, 
uphold  her  splendid  cardinal  and  stand  for  the  right  in  a 
world  crisis,  is  not  likely  to  make  her  attractive  to  virile 
men  and  women  who  think. 

The  Holy  Orthodox  Church — the  Church  of  Greece,  Russia 
and  the  East — has  a  glorious  past,  but  has  lived  too  much  in 
the  past,  and  repressed  in  Russia  by  an  autocratic  government 

*°  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  remind  readers  that  Columbus  and  the  Spaniards 
settled  South  America  and  Mexico,  not  our  country. 


156  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

has  not  kept  in  touch  with  modern  life.  Those  who  know, 
tell  us  that  when  the  clouds  roll  away  and  the  truth  is  known 
about  Russia,  there  will  be  revealed  persecutions  and  mar- 
tyrdoms for  the  Faith  that  are  not  surpassed  in  the  first  cen- 
turies. In  the  Church  and  in  the  world  in  this  new  age, 
Russia  and  the  Orthodox  Church  will  certainly  play  a  big 
part,  and  make  a  great  contribution  to  the  Body  of  Christ. 
She  has  preserved  the  childlike  wonder  and  the  awe  of  the 
mystery  which  one  sees  expressed  in  devout  Russians  and 
devout  Anglicans,  never  in  devout  Latins.  The  hard  defi- 
nitions, the  bargain  and  sale  of  benefits,  and  the  monstrance, 
seem  to  have  killed  this  faculty  in  Roman  Catholics. 

This  Church  of  ours,  though  not  as  large  as  some  other 
religious  bodies,  has  entered  deeply  into  the  life  of  the 
nation.  From  George  Washington  to  General  Pershing,  in 
all  departments  of  our  national  life,  it  has  borne  its  witness 
and  influenced  our  development  through  its  noble  and  patri- 
otic members  occupying  positions  of  leadership,  and  through 
the  power  of  its  corporate  life — the  life  of  its  inconspicuous 
members.  "Two-thirds  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  were  Churchmen,  and  they  were  in  the  same 
proportion  among  the  f  ramers  of  the  Federal  Constitution."" 

We  have  reason  to  be  proud  of  our  past  and  to  build  on 
these  foundations,  but  to  build,  not  to  stand  still.  The 
tendency  of  the  old  is  to  live  in  the  past  (we  know  notable 
exceptions)  ;  the  tendency  of  the  young  is  to  discard  the  past 
and  live  in  the  present  and  the  future ;  in  middle  life  the  two 
tendencies  are  balanced,  and  we  have  wise  judgment  if  we 
have  lived  rightly.  Our  country  is  young,  and  the  old 
world  is  new  born ;  our  tendencies  are  the  tendencies  of 
youth  ;  and  our  danger  lies  in  discarding  the  past  and  accept- 
ing things  just  because  they  are  new — anything  for  a  change. 
But  building  of  this  kind  is  building  on  sand. 

"  A   History  of  the   American  Church. — LeightoQ   Coleman. 


THE  ONE  BODY  157 

The  peoples  of  the  earth  who  have  come  to  our  new  coun- 
try, seeking  freedom,  have  brought  to  us  great  problems, 
great  opportunities,  and  great  responsibilities.  These  cannot 
be  met  and  solved  by  money  and  zeal  alone,  and  the  Germans 
have  taught  us  that  education  does  not  make  a  man  or  a 
nation  nobler  and  better.  "The  revelation  of  the  reality  of 
evil,  of  the — if  I  may  so  put  it — non-inevitability  of  progress 
and  of  the  inadequacy  of  culture,  has  made  men  feel  that 
the  world  is  in  a  parlous  state,  and  that  it  needs  redemp- 
tion." 12 

Redemption — salvation — here  and  now,  that  is  what  the 
world  needs ;  men  feel  it,  and  the  Church  has  it  to  give,  for 
the  Church  is  the  Home  of  Salvation.  It  is  that  because 
it  is  in  union  with  the  living  God-Man  Christ  Jesus,  the 
Saviour  of  the  World.  "There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek, 
there  is  neither  bond  nor  free,  there  is  neither  male  nor 
female :  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus."  In  Him,  in  the 
one  Body — His  Body — can  be  found  the  unity  that  we  know 
must  be  accomplished  if  our  national  life  is  to  endure,  and 
in  the  one  Body  we  may  also  find  true  freedom  in  deliver- 
ance from  the  bondage  of  sin.  This  deliverance,  this  true 
freedom,  this  true  democracy,  to  be  found  alone  in  the 
Catholic  Church,  is  the  message  we  must  give  not  only  with 
our  lips  but  in  our  lives.  We  need  not  worry  about  the  title 
page  of  the  Prayer  Book ;  that  will  take  care  of  itself.  What 
we  need  to  worry  about  is  the  showing  forth  of  the  Catholic 
life  in  its  winning  beauty  and  power,  that  men  may  believe 
in  the  one  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church. 

This  Catholic  vision  and  temper  is  of  all  things  important 
in  our  missionary  work,  especially  among  those  not  of  our 
race  and  speech.  If  we  are  true  Catholics,  we  will  not  seek 
to  make  Italians,  Poles,  Si;ivs,  Chinese,  and  Philippinos, 
Protestant  Episcopalians,  and  try  to  mould  them  in  one 
Anglo-Saxon  type,  making  them  express  their  religious  life 

"Hopes  for  English  Religion. — J.  N.  Figgis,  C.  R. 
11 


158  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

and  devotion  in  American  ways.  And  if  we  are  true  Catho- 
lics we  will  not  try  to  force  Latin  devotions  and  practices 
on  ourselves  and  others.  Fr.  Stanton,  in  speaking  of  a 
pilgrimage  of  English  Roman  Catholics,  remarked  on  its 
being  forced  and  unattractive,  not  natural  to  English  people. 
In  family  and  social  life  we  express  ourselves  in  our  own 
American  way,  and  when  Latins  call  us  "cold"  we  smile,  and 
know  they  do  not  understand.  Let  us  be  natural  and  simple 
in  our  religion,  and  remember  that  "we  have  many  members 
in  one  Body,  and  all  members  have  not  the  same  office." 

The  Catholic  Church,  as  Fr.  Figgis  reminds  us  so  often, 
is  not  the  Church  of  one  age.  Those  who  would  make  her 
the  Church  of  the  first  centuries,  or  the  Church  of  the  middle 
ages,  are  just  as  Protestant  as  those  who  would  make  her 
the  Church  of  the  Reformation,  or  the  Church  of  the  twen- 
tieth century.  The  Catholic  Church  is  the  Church  of  all 
ages,  the  living,  growing  Body  of  Christ,  gathering  up  the 
rich  life  and  experience  of  the  past,  and  expressing  it  for 
us  in  our  American  life.  One  in  Catholic  faith  and  prac- 
tice we  should  be,  yet  making  our  own  peculiar  contribution 
to  the  Body. 

The  wounding  of  the  Body  of  Christ  is  the  great  sin  of 
Christendom,  and  we  cannot  treat  it  lightly  and  easily. 
These  wounds  will  only  be  healed  through  an  agony  of  cor- 
porate penitence,  of  which  we  see  no  sign  anywhere.  When 
we  touch  them  with  unwashed  hands  and  try  to  apply  our 
cheap  remedies,  we  are  severely  punished  for  our  sacrilege. 

Bishop  Gore  is  never  tired  of  telling  us  of  the  great  voca- 
tion that  seems  to  be  given  to  our  Communion,  and  when 
we  forget  and  trifle  with  this  we  are  sharply  reminded  of  it. 
Fr.  Figgis'  last  message  is  "Bright  are  our  prospects ;  bright 
but  difficult.  Courage  and  the  unconquerable  will  are  the 
one  thing  needful,  for  we  have  real  enemies  and  they  hate 
Christ."    "The  post  of  danger  is  the  post  of  honour,"  he  told 


THE  ONE  BODY  159 

us  years  ago.  The  heart  of  the  Church  is  sound;  the  reli- 
gious Bolshevists  are  few,  but  conspicuous  and  noisy,  and 
Athanasius  is  somewhere  ready  to  be  called  forth  by  our 
prayers.  If  we  lack  leaders,  if  for  our  sins  our  teachers 
are  removed  from  us  by  death,  the  responsibility  of  the 
plain,  every-day  Churchman  and  Churchwoman  is  trebled. 
Indeed  Bishop  Gore  reminds  us  that  the  special  men  can 
only  do  their  special  tasks  if  the  ordinary  communicants  are 
doing  their  part  faithfully.  We  need  no  leaders,  no  organi- 
zation, no  money  to  do  our  part ;  only  faith  in  God,  the  will 
to  pray,  and  living  by  the  sacraments.  The  days  are  troub- 
lous, the  fight  is  fierce,  but  the  issue  is  not  in  doubt. 

In    heaven    and    earth    "the    Saints    their    watch    are 
keeping."    Sursum  Corda. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP 

PRAYER 

The  great  privilege  of  membership  in  the  Church  is  prayer 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  that  is,  prayer  in 
union  with  His  person  and  His  will,  not  merely  saying  the 
words  "through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord"  at  the  end  of  a 
prayer.  The  right  and  the  power  to  pray  in  His  name  is 
acquired  in  Christian  baptism,  but  we  will  lose  this  power, 
and  may,  by  deadly  sin,  lose  the  right  if  we  fail  to  exercise 
it,  and  do  not  constantly  nourish  and  revive  His  life  within 
us  by  receiving  His  Blessed  Body  and  most  Precious  Blood. 
The  Eucharist  is  the  great  act  of  prayer  in  His  name ;  in  it 
prayer  reaches  its  climax,  and  from  it  all  prayer  derives  its 
power  and  efficiency.  Prayer  is  a  holy  communion,  a  sacri- 
fice of  praise  and  thanksgiving,  an  oblation,  a  giving  some- 
thing to  God  as  well  as  a  receiving  something  from  God. 
It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  remember  this  in  thinking 
about  prayer,  for  it  gives  the  right  idea  of  prayer,  and 
teaches  us  that  prayer  is  more  than  "asking  for  things."  The 
author  of  that  wonderful  little  book  "The  Riches  of  Prayer" 
tells  us  one  trouble  with  our  prayers  is  we  think  too  much 
about  self  and  not  enough  about  God.  "Prayer  is  the  real 
Lifting  up  of  the  Living  Soul  to  the  Living  God.  This  is  the 
very  essence  of  prayer.  All  other  definitions  of  Prayer  deal 
with  its  parts.  This  expresses  its  whole.  Unless  there  is  a 
true  Ascent  of  the  Mind,  Heart,  and  Will  of  man  to  God, 
Prayer  will  be  cold,  dry  and  wearisome."  ^  This  is  what  our 
Lord  taught  us  in  the  prayer  He  gave  us.  He  says,  "After 
this  manner  therefore  pray  ye :  Our  Father  which  "art  in 

'  The  Riches  of  Prayer. — I^ongnians,   Green  &  Co. 

1 60 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  161 

Heaven,  Hallowed  by  Thy  name.  Thy  Kingdom  come.  Thy 
will  be  done  in  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven."  Here  we  have  a  real 
Hfting  up  of  the  soul  to  our  Father,  with  no  thought  of  self. 

The  praying  of  this  prayer  is  indeed  prayer  in  His  name, 
and  has  ever  been  regarded  by  the  Church  as  only  second 
in  importance  to  the  Eucharist,  and,  like  the  Eucharist,  its 
Catholicity  as  well  as  its  petitions  and  their  order  testify  to 
its  divine  origin.  What  man  would  have  put  the  petitions  in 
the  order  they  stand?  "The  honour  of  God's  truth  is  so 
continually,  in  the  modern  mind,  subordinate  to  human 
needs."  ^  But  after  we  have  sought  the  Kingdom  of  God 
and  His  righteousness,  we  are  taught  to  ask  for  what  we 
need  for  body  and  soul.  Christian  prayer  does  not  strive 
to  bend  God's  will  to  our  wills  and  make  Him  give  us  what 
we  want,  as  does  pagan  prayer ;  its  object  is  to  conform  our 
wills  to  His  will,  and  to  co-operate  in  His  purposes.  In 
prayer  above  all  else  we  may  be  fellow-workers  with  God. 
If  we  remember  this  we  will  not  be  worried  about  answers 
to  our  prayer. 

"He  always  wins  who  sides  with  Go  J, 
To  him  no  chance  is  lost; 
God's  Will  is  sweetest  to  him  when 
It  triumphs  at  his  cost. 

"Ill  that  He  blesses  is  our  good, 

And  unblest  good  is  ill; 
And  all  is  right  that  seems  most  wrong, 
If  it  be  His  sweet  Will." 

Prayer  is  not  only  our  Christian  privilege ;  it  is  our  Chris- 
tian duty.  Our  duty  first  to  God,  acknowledging  Him  as 
our  Father  and  our  Lord,  and  then  our  duty  to  ourselves 
and  to  our  neighbors.  "Prayer  is  the  Christian's  vital 
breath."  If  we  do  not  pray  we  die.  We  have  no  contact 
with  God,  but  God  the  Holy  Ghost  still  works  within  us, 
trying  to  kindle  the  spark  of  life  afresh,  and  when  wc  kneel 

'  Prayer,  and  the  Lord's    Prayer. — C.   Gore 


162  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

down  in  penitence  and  cry  "God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner" 
— Jesus  save  me — Blessed  Spirit  whom  I  have  grieved,  leave 
me  not  but  help  my  feeble  efforts — there  is  joy  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Angels  of  God  who  cry  exultingly,  "Behold,  he 
prayeth."  If  we  do  not  pray  we  also  fail  to  do  our  part  in 
the  great  work  of  intercession  in  the  Body  of  Christ,  and 
we  fail  in  our  duty  to  the  brotherhood  and  to  those  for 
whom  Christ  died  and  who  know  Him  not.  Bishop  Gore 
says,  "There  is — I  say  it  with  perfect  confidence — no  greater 
difficulty  in  believing  God  intends  to  give  us  whole  classes 
of  good  things  for  soul  and  body,  but  will  not  give  us  them 
unless  we  correspond  with  His  purpose  by  diligent  prayer, 
than  in  believing  that  whole  classes  of  good  things  are  stored 
up  for  us  in  nature,  which  will  not  be  our  own  unless  we 
seek  them  by  diligent  hard  work."  ^ 

In  order  to  pray  we  must  have  faith  in  God,  and  the  will 
to  pray.  Mr.  Carey  says :  "People  are  not  atheists,  they 
deny  nothing.  *  *  *  g^^-  ^j^gy  have  not  really  thought, 
pondered,  realized,  the  great  questions  about  God  and  our- 
selves, which  natural  religion  puts  to  you  and  which  the 
Christian  religion  answers :  Whence  do  I  come  ?  Whither 
do  I  go?    Why  am  I  here?" 

"My  own  religious  faith  (such  as  it  is)  is  not  based  on  an 
intellectual  certainty  which  is  obtained  prior  to  an  effort  to 
live  a  religious  life." 

"I  do  not  believe  anybody  is  certain  before  they  start. 
You  get  certain  as  you  go  along.  I  get  along  very  comfort- 
ably with  an  intellectual  probability  which  when  tested  by 
daily  life  increases  my  certainty  every  day.  I  define  religious 
certainty  as  springing  from  probability  plus  experience;  all 
you  need  for  a  start  is  probability." 

"In  fact  I  frequently  ask  people  whether  they  think 
Christianity  is  probably  true.  If  they  say  'Yes,'  I  answer, 
'Well,  will  you  give  it  a  try  for  (say)  five  years,  with  com- 

■  Prayer,  and  the  I^ord's  Prayer. — C.   Gore. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  163 

plete  liberty  at  the  end  to  turn  Mohammedan,  Buddhist,  or 
even  Atheist  if,  after  an  honest  trial,  it  leads  you  to  darkness 
and  not  to  light?'  They  usually  agree,  and  I  am  perfectly 
content,  for  I  have  no  doubt  as  to  the  result,  while  they  are 
testing  it  in  a  perfectly  legitimate  way,  viz. :  testing  a  prob- 
able theory  by  a  series  of  vital  experiments."* 

While  in  order  to  pray  all  we  need  is  faith  in  God  and 
the  will  to  pray,  we  will  not  pray  unless  we  have  fixed  and 
regular  times  for  prayer.  Morning  and  evening,  of  course, 
on  our  knees  in  the  quiet  of  our  own  room,  and  in  the  middle 
of  the  day  sometime,  wherever  we  are  and  whatever  we 
are  doing.  It  is  becoming,  thank  God,  more  and  more 
common  for  men  and  women  to  stop  in  church  during  the 
day  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  just  to  rest  in  the  presence 
of  God,  and  say  a  few  words  of  intercession  for  the  Church, 
our  Country  and  the  World.  "Casting  all  your  care  upon 
Him ;  for  He  careth  for  you,"  the  Apostle  says. 

Mr.  Carey,  who  is  a  chaplain  in  the  English  Navy,  and 
was  in  the  battle  of  Jutland  on  H.  M.  S.  War  Sprite,  and 
knows  the  difficulty  of  prayer  for  sailors  and  other  busy 
people,  suggests  the  following  programme  for  business  men 
or  women :  "Rise  at  7,  prayers  7.20,  breakfast  7.30,  etc.  ; 
mid-day  prayer  en  route  to  lunch  ;  10.30  retire,  Bible  reading 
till  10.40,  prayers  till  10.50,  bed  at  11 — such  a  scheme  regu- 
larly fulfilled  (with  necessary  deviations  at  times)  would 
make  us  a  praying  people."  ^  But  says  some  one,  "Is  it  not 
irreverent  and  wrong  to  pray  when  you  do  not  feel  like  it  ?" 
No,  it  is  not,  if  you  have  a  desire  to  pray,  but  it  is  irreverent 
and  wrong  not  to  pray.  This  is  doing  dishonor  to  God. 
Emotion  makes  prayer  easier,  but  not  necessarily  better.  The 
joy  of  prayer  comes  sometimes  to  beginners  as  a  gift  from 
God  to  encourage  them,  and  sometimes  from  temperament, 

*  Prayer  and  Some  of  Its  Difficulties,     W.  J.   Carey.     Morehouse  Publishing 
Co.     Price  65  cents. 

*  I  would  like  to  recommend  to  the  reader  Mr.  Carey's  book;  also  "The  Riches 
of  Prayer,"  and  Dr.  McNeile'a  "Self-Training  in  Prayer." 


164  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

but  the  joy  of  prayer  only  becomes  a  possession  of  the  soul 
after  long  practice  in  the  life  of  prayer.  God  asks  the  exer- 
cise of  our  wills,  not  emotion.  Then,  too,  we  must  see  that 
there  is  no  root  of  bitterness  harbored  in  our  hearts,  and 
no  sin  we  are  unwilling  to  give  up.  True  repentance  and 
charity  are  conditions  of  true  prayer.  A  life  of  prayer  is 
a  life  of  peace  and  joy,  because  it  is  a  life  of  union  with 
God,  and  it  will  be  ours  if  we  persevere. 

Our  prayers  should  include  praise,  thanksgiving  and  obla- 
tion, and  intercession  for  ourselves  and  for  others,  especially 
for  those  for  whom  we  are  bound  by  ties  of  family  and 
friendship.  Church  and  State,  and  for  the  conversion  of  the 
world.  We  will  use,  if  we  are  wise,  masters  of  the  spiritual 
life  tell  us,  forms  of  prayer  and  also  prayers  in  our  own 
words,  and  books  if  we  find  we  keep  our  minds  better  on  our 
prayers  in  this  way.  As  we  progress  and  learn  to  know  our 
Psalms  and  forms  of  prayer  by  heart,  I  think  we  do  better 
without  books,  but  that  is  for  each  to  decide  for  himself. 
The  important  thing  is  to  be  real,  to  mean  what  we  say. 
To  this  end,  prayers  should  be  simple  and  reverent,  avoiding 
all  soft,  sentimental  and  mawkish  devotions,  Protestant  or 
Roman.  We  may  not  say  what  such  devotions  as  we  find 
in  some  of  our  manuals  to  "the  Sacred  Heart,"  "the  Wound 
in  the  Left  Foot,"  etc.,  are  to  those  brought  up  to  them ;  but 
to  us  they  are  not  natural,  and  are  repulsive,  material  and 
irreverent,  and  the  type  of  religion  they  tend  to  produce,  as 
Fr.  Benson  has  shown,  is  not  the  highest  and  best.  The 
dignity,  the  reserve,  the  passionate  but  reverent  love  ex- 
pressed in  the  best  Anglican  devotions  are  natural  to  our 
race  and  our  Catholic  inheritance,  and  we  will  do  well  to 
develop  our  life  of  prayer  along  these  lines,  remembering 
always  it  is  not  in  much  speaking  and  many  words  we  pray 
best,  and  that  prayer  is  listening  as  well  as  speaking. 

Some  one  has  said  that  it  is  the  five  minutes  before  prayer, 
when  we  quietly  try  to  realize  God's  presence,  and  the  five 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  165 

minutes  after  prayer  when  we  listen  to  God  speaking  to  us, 
that  counts.  Learning  to  pray  thus  we  can  go  on  to  learn 
mental  prayer  or  meditation,  which  is  not  beyond  the  power 
of  even  uneducated  people,  and  is  worth  all  the  effort  it  re- 
quires to  learn.  For  this  I  would  suggest  Dr.  McNeile's 
book  "Self-Training  in  Meditation,"  and  let  none  say  they 
cannot  meditate  until  they  have  read  this  simple  little  book 
and  tried  it. 

But  how  are  we  to  get  time  for  all  this  praying?  And  after 
all,  is  not  work  for  God  and  our  neighbor  the  best  prayer? 
Is  it  not  true  that  *'to  labor  is  to  pray?"  some  may  ask. 
"Now,"  says  Dr.  McNeile,  "when  a  person  thinks  that  he  is 
too  busy  to  pray,  he  feels  it  annoying  to  be  referred  to  the 
story  of  IMartha  and  Mary,  and  cannot  help  sympathizing 
very  much  with  Martha.  But  I  am  sure  that  that  story  is  con- 
stantly misused.  Are  we  really  to  suppose  that  Mary  spent 
the  whole  of  her  life  sitting  still  and  doing  nothing  but  con- 
template, or  read  her  Bible,  while  Martha  spent  the  whole 
of  her  life  in  house-work?  Her  grumble  against  Mary, 
'Lord,  carest  Thou  not  that  my  sister  hath  left  me  to  serve 
alone?'  shows  that  she  was  not  accustomed  to  be  left  to 
serve  alone,  and  that  Mary  usually  helped  her.  Martha  and 
Mary  must  not  be  taken  as  types  of  two  people,  the  one  all 
work  and  the  other  all  prayer.  They  are  a  photograph,  a 
snap-shot,  so  to  speak,  of  two  states  of  mind  at  a  particular 
moment — the  moment  when  the  chance  offered  itself  of  a 
quiet,  satisfying  conversation  with  out  Lord.  Mary  seized 
it  and  Martha  didn't." 

"The  question  is  What  is  the  meaning  of  work  filled  with 
prayer  ?  Now  I  cannot  speak  smooth  things ;  I  must  put 
before  you  the  highest  Christian  ideal.  It  means  work  done 
in  such  a  condition  of  soul  that  in  every  detail,  in  every 
hour  and  moment  and  second,  you  are  filled  with  the  Pres- 
ence of  God,  you  are  in  touch  with  the  divine  Reality.  To 
make  quite  true  in  your  life  the  saying  that  To  work  is  to 


166  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

pray,  is  to  be  Martha  and  Mary  at  the  same  time ;  and  that 
is  the  dimax  of  perfection.  *  *  *  We  must  follow  Mary 
every  day,  if  we  are  to  do  Martha's  work  without  the  Lord's 
rebuke.  If  in  all  the  busy  racket  of  work  we  are  to  dwell 
under  the  defence  of  the  Most  High,  and  abide  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Almighty,  we  must  retain  that  defence,  and 
hide  ourselves  under  that  shadow,  by  making  time  for  deep, 
quiet  prayer.  It  is  the  stern  practice  in  private  that  makes 
the  world-famed  professional."  ^ 

To  whom  much  time  is  given  that  may  be  used  for  what 
we  may  call  formal  prayer,  much  will  be  required,  and  to 
whom  little  time  is  given,  little  will  be  required,  but  the 
standard  set  by  the  Apostle — "pray  without  ceasing" — is  not 
an  impossible  ideal.  '  Men  and  women  of  like  passions  as 
we  are,  and  of  as  busy  lives,  have  attained  to  it  because  they 
desired  to,  tried  to,  and  persevered.  If  we  would  learn  to 
"pray  without  ceasing,"  we  must  do  the  same.  "Some  people 
think  that  a  soul  only  prays  when  it  utters  prayers,  which," 
says  Mr.  Carey,  "is  equivalent  to  saying  that  you  only  love 
when  you  write  love-letters  or  speak  loving  words.  A  soul 
whose  attitude  toward  God  is  one  of  love  and  longing  to 
serve,  never  ceases  praying;  prayers  are  only  the  loving 
attitude  becoming  vocal."  To  pray  without  ceasing,  then, 
we  must  have  regular  quiet  times  for  formal  prayers,  and 
learn  frequently  to  lift  up  our  hearts  to  God  during  the  day, 
that  we  may  live  in  the  presence  of  God,  in  an  atmosphere 
of  prayer  day  and  night,  even  when  asleep. 

We  read  in  the  Bible  how  God  spoke  to  Samuel  and  St. 
Joseph  and  others  as  they  slept,  and  He  still  does  so.  For 
this  reason  we  have  constant  prayers  about  a  very  ill  or 
dying  person  unconscious  to  all  about  him,  but  to  whom 
God  can  and  may  be  speaking. 

Being  awakened  out  of  sleep  by  the  cries  of  one  in  distress, 
impelled  to  pray  for  or  to  go  to  see  some  one — usually  one 

•  Self-Training  in  Prayer. — A.  H.   McNeile. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  167 

of  whom  one  has  not  been  thinking  at  the  time, — are  not 
unusual  spiritual  experiences,  as  the  delightful  and  anony- 
mous author  of  "Wayside  Lamps"  and  "Wayside  Neigh- 
bours," tells  us.  This  may  be  thought  transference,  or  it 
may  be  the  call  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  the  writer  shows. 
It  is  on  this  the  Quakers  lay  such  stress,  calling  it  truly 
"being  moved  by  the  Spirit."  The  closer  we  live  to  God, 
the  more  completely  we  surrender  ourselves  to  Him,  the 
more  sensitive  we  shall  be  to  the  guidance  of  God  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  the  Friends  knew  that  this  required  times  of 
silence  and  quiet.  Such  experiences  unsought  and  leading 
to  good,  are  undoubtedly  of  God,  but  not  to  be  reported  to 
psychic  societies,  talked  about,  or  even  thought  about.  Like 
the  fairies  of  our  childhood  days,  spiritual  things  vanish  or 
turn  into  ugly  creatures  with  the  light  of  day. 

To-day  we  are  witnessing  a  return  of  a  different  kind  of 
spiritualism  and  people  are  saying,  "I  believe  there  is  some- 
thing in  it."  There  is.  There  are  spirits  all  about  us  and 
we  have  forgotten  it.  There  are  the  spirits  of  "Just  men 
made  perfect"  (the  Saints)  ;  there  are  the  spirits  of  the 
dead  in  Christ  who  have  not  yet  attained  perfection ;  there 
are  the  Holy  Angels  and  there  are  the  Evil  Spirits  with  the 
Devil  our  great  adversar}^  the  Father  of  Lies,  at  their  head. 
What  are  the  manifestations  and  fruits  of  the  spirits  of 
the  seances,  mediums  and  table  rappings  ?  Are  these  things 
of  God?  Can  we  believe  the  good  spirits,  the  Saints,  the 
Angels,  and  the  dead  in  Christ  manifest  themselves  in  this 
way?  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  What  are 
their  fruits  ?  Do  we  find  that  those  who  practice  spiritualism 
pray  more,  are  more  frequent  at  the  Holy  Communion,  love 
and  serve  God  better  than  others,  or  than  they  did  before 
they  became  spiritualists?  In  other  words,  does  spiritualism 
lead  to  God  and  to  holy  living  ?  Communion  with  the  Saints 
and  the  Angels,  and  with  those  who  live  near  to  God  should 


168  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

do  this.    We  know  the  fruits  of  spirituaUsm  are  not  these 
things,  but  quite  the  reverse. 

Fr.  Longridge,  of  the  Community  of  the  Resurrection, 
to  which  we  owe  so  many  good  things,  has  written  a  very 
sane  and  wise  little  book  on  spiritualism,  and  Christians 
would  do  well  to  read  it  that  they  may  be  able  to  talk  intel- 
ligently on  the  subject,  and  guide  others  who  are  being 
wrongly  influenced.  He  tells  us  there  are  two  classes  of 
people  studying  this  subject,  scientists  and  those  who  make 
a  religion  of  it.'^  He  reminds  us  that  w^hat  may  be  safe  and 
right  for  a  scientist,  is  unsafe  for  one  ignorant  of  the  laws 
of  the  science.  This  applies  to  electricity  and  chemistry  as 
well  as  to  psychology.  He  shows  us  how  dangerous 
spiritualism  is  for  those  who  take  it  up  for  curiosity  or  for 
comfort  and  make  a  religion  of  it,  and  he  reminds  us  it  is 
forbidden  in  both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments.  This 
heresy  has  arisen  largely  through  our  neglect  of  the  great 
Christian  doctrine  of  the  Communion  of  Saints,  and  our 
failure  to  realize  it  in  prayers  for  the  dead.  When  our  dear 
ones  pass  out  of  our  sight  there  is  no  separation  if  we  are  in 
Christ  Jesus.  There  is  but  one  body;  the  head  and  part 
of  the  body  are  out  of  sight,  and  the  lower  limbs,  as  it  were, 
are  on  earth. 

"Angels,  and  living  saints,  and  dead 

But  one  Communion  make ; 
All  join  in  Christ,  their  living  Head, 
And  of  His  love  partake." 

When  we  recite  the  Creed  we  say  we  believe  this,  but 
we  do  not  make  it  part  of  our  life  because  we  do  not  pray 
for  our  dead.  The  war  has  done  a  great  deal  to  change  this. 
The  Jews  prayed  for  the  dead,  and  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment, the  catacombs,  the  liturgies  and  the  writings  of  Chris- 
tians in  the  first  centuries  we  learn  how  universal  was  this 
custom  among  the  early  Christians. 

^  Spiritualism    and    Christianity, — Georfe    Longridge.       Morehouse    Pub.    Co 
Price  45  cents. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  169 

Our  dear  ones  arc  indeed  at  rest  in  the  Lord,  and  free 
from  temptation,  but  they  are  far  from  perfect,  and  in  their 
progress  to  perfection  we  can  help  them  by  our  prayers. 
The  fire  that  cleanses  them  is  the  pure  love  of  God,  and  as 
this  kindles  penitence,  the  stains  of  sin  are  gradually  purged 
out  of  them.  When  we  shall  see  things  as  they  are,  how 
poor  and  mean  and  worthless  will  seem  the  things  upon  which 
we  spent  ourselves  and  set  our  affections  and  how  awful  will 
our  secret  sins  appear  in  the  light  of  His  countenance,  and 
in  the  knowledge  of  His  love  and  what  He  has  done  for  us. 
How  deep  will  be  our  pain  in  thinking  what  we  might  have 
done  for  Him,  and  what  we  might  have  been,  and  how 
great  our  joy  in  the  things  we  did  do  and  bear  for  His 
sake — the  treasures  we  laid  up  in  heaven.  In  this  life  of 
penitence  and  purification  we  can  help  the  dead  in  Christ 
by  our  prayers,  and  especially  by  offering  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
for  them.  In  the  Eucharist  we  have  not  only  communion 
with  our  dead  but  we  can  help  them.  One  of  the  hardest 
things  to  bear,  when  our  dear  ones  are  taken  from  us,  is  the 
feeling  that  we  can  do  nothing  more  for  them.  What  a  com- 
fort it  is  to  know  that  we  can  still  minister  to  them. 

In  prayer  we  cast  our  anchor  within  the  veil,  and  in 
times  of  storm  and  tempest  it  holds  us  fast  to  our  moor- 
ings, while  others  who  do  not  pray  make  shipwreck  of  their 
lives.  You  do  not  find  those  who  pray  and  live  by  the  Sacra- 
ments hunting  for  comfort  in  seances. 

Oh,  but  prayer  is  so  difficult,  people  say.  Yes,  its  very 
simplicity  makes  it  that  except  to  little  children  and  those 
who  have  become  as  little  children,  but  we  can  learn  if  we 
will.  Take  one  who  is  learning  to  play  the  violin  to  hear 
a  great  master.  If  he  has  the  right  spirit  he  is  not  discour- 
aged, but  stimulated  and  encouraged  to  go  on  with  the 
drudgery.  So  books  on  prayer  show  us  what  prayer  may  be 
to  help  us  to  persevere,  but  we  can  only  learn  to  pray  by 
praying;  feebly  and  haltingly  at  first  rs  we  learn  an  instru- 


170  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

ment  of  music.  The  great  symphonies  of  prayer  and  praise 
have  to  be  learned  slowly  and  patiently,  and  we  shall  never 
attain  to  perfection  here.  That  will  be  our  joy  hereafter 
when  our  hearts  are  perfectly  attuned  to  God.  But  it  is 
here  we  learn  the  scales  and  the  exercises,  and  something 
of  the  heavenly  melodies  too,  if  we  persevere.  True  love 
is  true  harmony,  and  in  prayer  "the  Saints  of  all  ages  in 
harmony  meet"  with  us,  as  do  our  blessed  dead  and  our 
Lord.  How  different  would  be  our  prayers  and  our  lives 
if  we  kept  before  us  this  heavenly  vision. 

All  about  us  lives  are  breaking  under  the  stress  and  strain 
of  life,  vainly  seeking  to  satisfy  immortal  souls  made  for 
God,  with  excitement,  pleasure,  money  and  material  things, 
and  trying  human  or  devilish  panaceas  for  heartaches ;  while 
all  the  time  One  who  has  borne  our  griefs  and  carried  our 
sorrows,  Who  was  tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we  are  yet 
without  sin,  stands  ready  to  help.  And  the  Spirit  and  the 
Bride  say — Come  to  Jesus. 

"What  a  Friend  we  have  in  Jesus, 
All  our  sins  and  griefs  to  bear ! 
What  a  privilege  to  carry 
Everything  to  God  in  prayer ! 
O  what  peace  we  often  forfeit, 
O  what  needless  pain  we  bear, 
All  because  we  do  not  carry 
Everything  to  God  in  prayer." 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  SYSTEM 

Question.    What  meanest  thou  by  this  word  Sacrament? 

Answer.  I  mean  an  outward  and  visible  sign  of  an  inward  and 
spiritual  grace  given  unto  us ;  ordained  by  Christ  himself,  as  a 
means  whereby  we  receive  the  same,  and  a  pledge  to  assure  us 
thereof. 

Question.    How  many  parts  are  there  in  a  Sacrament? 

Answer.  Two ;  the  outward  visible  sign,  and  the  inward  spiritual 
grace. — The  Catechism,  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

The  Christian  religion  is  Sacramental  and  social  because 
it  is  the  religion  of  the  Incarnation,  and  a  religion  of  the 
whole  man.  The  purpose  of  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of 
God  was  to  give  life.  "I  am  come  that  they  might  have  life, 
and  that  they  might  have  it  more  abundantly."  Jesus  told 
this  to  Nicodemus,  who  came  to  Him  for  truth,  and  He  told 
this  to  the  Jews  at  Capernaum,  who  followed  Him  for 
material  benefits,  and  on  both  occasions  He  shows  that  the 
life  He  will  give  will  come  through  material  means.  By 
His  Incarnation  He  sanctifies  and  redeems  the  material 
universe  by  taking  it  unto  Himself,  living  by  it  as  He  has 
always  lived  in  it,  for  He  is  the  light  that  lighteth  every  man 
that  Cometh  into  the  world.  But  in  His  Incarnation  He 
unites  His  creation  to  His  Sacred  Humanity  and  takes  our 
human  nature  to  the  right  hand  of  God,  and  through  it  gives 
gifts  to  men.  So  it  is  He  sanctifies  water  to  the  mystical 
washing  away  of  sin ;  so  it  is  He  takes  the  bread  and  wine 
unto  Himself  and  through  it  gives  Himself ;  so  it  is  through 
men,  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  men,  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  given  and  men  are  endued  with  power  from  on  high. 
When  men  in  amazement  rejoiced  that  such  power  had  been 
given  to  men  they  were  not  rebuked  by  the  Master. 

171 


172  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

There  always  have  been  and  probably  always  will  be  those 
who  reject  the  Incarnation  as  too  material,  and  make  for 
themselves  a  more  spiritual  God,  a  God  of  the  mind.  ''Many 
religions,  recognizing  that  spirit  is  more  fundamental  than 
matter,  have  treated  the  body  with  contempt.  And  the  body 
has  had  its  revenge  by  entirely  enslaving  the  spirit  to  carnal 
lusts.  Many  imagine  that  they  become  more  spiritual  as  they 
learn  more  and  more  to  despise  and  ill-treat  or  neglect  the 
body.  So  the  Manich^eans  find  the  seat  of  all  evil  in  matter, 
the  Hindus  treat  the  body  with  contempt."^ 

When  the  Gospel  was  first  preached,  St.  Paul  had  to 
combat  this  heresy  in  Corinth.  Pride  of  the  intellect  kept 
the  Greeks  from  accepting  Christ  crucified,  and  the  first 
heresy  the  Church  had  to  deal  with  was  this  Gnostic  heresy. 
St.  Paul  told  the  Greeks  the  Gospel  was  for  the  poor,  the 
Vv'cak  and  the  foolish-  (according  to  the  world),  not  for 
those  who  exalt  the  intellect  and  make  it  their  God.  This 
worship  we  have  exhibited  to-day  in  the  Pantheism  of 
Buddhism  and  its  daughters,  Christian  Science  and  New 
Thought.  Mr.  Mackenzie,  in  his  little  book,  "An  Angel  of 
Light,"  has  done  good  service  in  showing  up  the  teaching 
and  tendencies  of  these  cults  which  are  attracting  so  many 
disciples.  His  book  should  be  largely  read.  He  says, 
"There  is  in  New  Thought  a  Mind,  not  the  mind  of  the 
believer  but  a  superior  Mind,  which  is  All  in  All.  That 
Mind  is  impersonal  Principle ;  just  as  Mrs.  Eddy  declares ; 
just  as  Mrs.  Besant  insists."  Again,  "The  fascinating 
swamis  who  visit  our  borders  have  no  message  for  the  sin- 
sick,  the  suffering,  the  dying.  Their  approach  is  made  to 
the  cultured,  the  wealthy,  the  distinguished.  In  this  we  find 
every  reason  for  accounting  that  Theosophy  is  the  religion 
of  the  pride  of  intellect  and  the  selfishness  of  class  isolation. 
And  the  cry  of  debased  India  and  other  lands  where  Bud- 

»  The  Sacramental   Principle.— P.   B.   Bull,  C.   R. 
•I  Cor.  1:20-29. 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  SYSTEM  173 

dhism  has  flourished,  underscores  this  decision."  "Whoso- 
ever exalteth  himself  shall  be  abased,  and  he  that  humbleth 
himself  shall  be  exalted."  ^ 

"The  Reis  and  Rayyet,  an  influential  newspaper  of  north- 
ern India,  sneers  at  Mrs.  Besant's  ecstacies  over  'The  Beau- 
ties of  Hinduism,'  and  utters  these  scorching  words,  'When 
an  English  lady  of  decent  culture  professes  to  be  an  admirer 
of  pantric  mysticism  and  Krishna  worship,  it  becomes  every 
well  wisher  of  the  country  to  tell  her  plainly  that  sensible 
men  do  not  want  her  eloquence  for  gilding  that  which  is 
rotten.'  The  Hindu,  the  organ  of  orthodox  Hinduism  in 
Madras,  confesses  thus  to  the  character  of  the  Brahmin 
priesthood,  'Profoundly  ignorant  as  a  class,  and  infinitely 
selfish,  it  is  the  mainstay  of  every  unholy,  immoral  and  cruel 
custom  and  superstition,  from  the  wretched  dancing  girl, 
who  insults  the  Deity  by  her  existence,  to  the  pining  child- 
widow  whose  every  tear  and  every  hair  of  whose  head  shall 
stand  up  against  every  one  who  shall  tolerate  it,  in  the  day  of 
judgment." 

To  show  how  this  cult  is  growing,  Mr.  Mackenzie  says,  "A 
correspondent  in  a  large  western  city  has  written  the  author 
a  pathetic  letter  in  which  he  says,  'I  may  alarm  you  by 
stating  that  in  the  college  building  here,  there  is  a  shrine  at 
which  Buddha  is  worshipped.  Hundreds  of  people,  who  as 
Presbyterians,  Baptists  or  others,  had  professed  faith  in 
Christ,  now  twice  a  week  gather  to  bow  before  this  pagan 
shrine.  Nearly  all  these  people  have  read  much  along  the 
lines  of  'New  Thought.'  The  teachers  whom  they  follow 
enlighten  these  seekers  after  knowledge  by  poisoning  their 
minds  through  the  doctrine  that  our  Lord  was  divine  only 
in  the  sense  that  all  are  divine.  To  them,  Christ  was  merely 
a  re-incarnation  of  Gautama.  In  this  vicinity,  Theosopliy  is 
luring  hundreds  of  educated  people  away  from  Christianity 

'  "It  was  by  no  chance  in  the  course  of  history,  no  meaningless  coincidence, 
that  the  Church  of  the  poor,  the  childlike,  the  simple-minded,  became  the  great 
sclioolof  learning  and  pinlosophy."  Faculties  and  Difficulties  for  Belief  and 
Disbelief. — Francis   Paget. 

12 


174  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

and  I  believe  its  leaders  claim  a  larger  circle  in  existence 
here,  than  in  any  city  of  the  world,  Benares  excepted/  The 
writer  mentions  cities  of  the  middle  west  and  the  southland 
into  which  few  would  suspect  this  propaganda  of  entering.'  " 
Pundita  Ramabai,  the  well-known  East  Indian  Christian 
teacher  and  writer,  says,  "On  my  arrival  in  New  York,  I 
was  told  that  a  new  philosophy  was  being  taught  in  the 
United  States.  It  is  called  Christian  Science.  I  recognized 
it  as  the  pagan  philosophy  taught  among  my  people  for  four 
thousand  years.  I  was  born  and  educated  in  that  philosophy, 
having  taken  my  degree  of  Pundita  in  it,  and  am  acquainted 
with  both  its  literature  and  its  influence  upon  my  people. 
And  I  want  to  witness  to  its  degradation.  It  has  ruined 
millions  of  lives  and  caused  immeasurable  suffering;  for  it 
is  based  on  selfishness  and  knows  no  sympathy.  That  philos- 
ophy rests  upon  the  theory  of  the  nothingness  of  matter. 
So  that  when  the  poor  people  are  starving,  this  philosophy 
does  not  care.  Let  them  starve  if  they  will ;  their  suffering 
is  not  real." 

"Do  we  feel  the  appalling  seriousness  of  this  situation? 
What  could  God  think,  when  multitudes  flocked  to  Mrs. 
Eddy's  home  in  Concord  to  pay  homage  to  her  as  the  evan- 
gelist of  Light  and  Life?  What,  when  the  Rev.  George  B. 
Day,  in  the  Chicago  Church,  declared,  *We  are  witnessing 
the  transfer  of  the  Gospel,  from  the  male  to  the  female 
trust." 

In  New  Thought  the  emphasis  is  laid  on  health  and  pros- 
perity. "So  long  as  people  die,  they  have  not  received  the 
full  benefits  of  the  saving  blood  of  Christ.  To  be  fully  saved 
from  sin  is  to  be  saved  from  its  result,  death.  If  you  want 
to  know  all  the  mysteries  of  life,  study  life,  and  put  out  of 
your  mind  every  thought  of  death  or  the  condition  of  the 
dead.  *  *  *  Again,  'The  cosmos  is  conscious.  You  must 
not  look  on  this  universe  as  a  material  but  as  a  mental  uni- 
verse.   Mentality  is  conscious  of  itself  and  so  the  cosmos  is 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  SYSTEM  175 

conscious/  "  *  This  is  Pantheism  named  New  Thought,  but 
a  very  old  thought.  God  and  the  world  are  not  identical  as 
Pantheism  teaches.  God  is  through  all  and  in  all  yet  above 
all.  But  "through  the  Incarnation  of  His  Word  He  is  draw- 
ing all  things  into  Himself."  The  Christian  Sacraments  are 
"the  vindication  of  the  sanctity  of  matter."*  "They  preserve 
the  truth  of  the  Incarnation  and  proclaim  that  Christianity 
is  pre-eminently  the  religion  of  the  body,  that  our  bodies  are 
as  closely  united  to  the  Body  of  Christ  as  the  branches  are 
to  the  vine,  or  as  the  hand  is  to  the  heart.  This  finally  de- 
stroys that  spurious  spirituality  which  fastens  a  man's  atten- 
tion exclusively  on  his  soul,  his  thoughts  and  feelings.  It 
teaches  us  that  every  muscle  and  nerve  and  tendon  of  the 
body  is  to  be  sanctified  and  developed  to  its  highest  power 
for  the  service  of  God."  ^ 

In  all  these  Pagan  cults  love  is  degraded  and  marriage 
flouted,  for  "Holy  Matrimony,"  says  Fr.  Bull,  "is  the  highest 
development  of  the  sacramental  principle  until  wx  come  to 
Holy  Communion."  *  *  *  "The  two  essential  points  in  a 
valid  marriage  are,  firstly,  that  there  must  be  no  impediment 
of  such  a  kind  as  to  make  the  marriage  invalid  ;  and  secondly, 
the  consent  of  the  two  persons  contracting  the  marriage, 
which  must  be  mutual,  deliberate,  voluntary,  and  outwardly 
shown."  ^  "According  to  Western  theology,  any  such  mar- 
riage of  two  unbaptized  persons  is  valid,  but  not  sacramen- 
tal; and  every  valid  marriage  of  baptized  persons  is  sacra- 
mental, whether  it  is  contracted  before  a  priest  or  not."  ^ 
Sacramental  marriage  "signifying  unto  us  the  mystical  union 
that  is  betwixt  Christ  and  His  Church"  is  not  to  be  entered 
into  unadvisedly,  or  lightly,  but  reverently,  discreetly,  ad- 
visedly, soberly,  and  in  the  fear  of  God"  and  can  only  be 
dissolved  by  death.  Young  people  in  Church  Schools,  in 
Guilds,  and  at  Confirmation  should  be  taught  this  more  than 

*  An   Angel  of  Light. — Kenneth   Mackenzie. 
•The  Sacramental  Principle.— P.  B.  Bull,   C.   R. 

*  Outlines  of  Christian   Dogma,  Darwell   Stone.     Quoted  in   The  Sacramental 
Principle.— P.   B.   Bull,  C.   R. 

*  Faith  of  the  Gospel. — A.  J.   Mason. 


176  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

they  are,  and  the  custom  of  preaching  on  Christian  marriage 
on  the  second  Sunday  after  the  Epiphany,  when  the  marriage 
Gospel  is  the  Gospel  for  the  day,  should  grow,  for  in  society 
and  in  literature  to-day  low  views  of  marriage  prevail.* 
"One  writer  of  our  most  brilliant  and  most  earnest  bids  us 
make  divorce  as  cheap,  as  easy  and  as  secret  as  possible 
and  openly  flouts  any  view  of  the  union  but  that  which  is 
physiological.  Now  this  is  the  direct  contrary  to  our  Chris- 
tion  notion,  which  is  that  the  inner  meaning  of  marriage  is 
Sacramental,  and  that,  therefore,  the  outward  part  needs 
guarding;  and  the  Sacramental  meaning  of  love  is  really 
the  burden  of  all  literature.  Such  a  view  could  only  come 
naturally  to  an  age  which  had  passed  from  a  denial  of  the 
whole  Sacramental  principle  to  a  questioning  of  the  Incar- 
nation, and  then  to  repudiate  the  spiritual  meaning  of  all 
physical  facts.  For  if  matter  be  something  non-spiritual, 
and  outside  God's  Kingdom,  then  the  marriage-bond  may 
very  easily  be  treated  like  a  contract,  made  or  broken  at  will. 
If  it  has  no  meaning  beyond  certain  outward  acts  then,  of 
course,  the  moral  or  spiritual  law  has  nothing  to  do  with  it."t 

The  ministers  of  this  Sacrament  are  the  man  and  woman 
who  marry  themselves,  the  priest  acting  for  the  Church 
receives  the  vows  and  blesses  the  marriage,  and  only  a  bishop 
or  a  priest  can  do  this.  The  Holy  Communion  was  always 
celebrated  at  weddings  until  the  dead  days  of  the  Church, 
and  the  custom  of  asking  Jesus  to  the  marriage  is  happily 
being  revived.  Until  a  few  years  ago  all  marriages  in  Eng- 
land had  to  be  solemnized  before  noon  to  be  legal.  This 
rule  was  made  on  account  of  the  Holy  Communion  being 
always  celebrated  at  a  marriage.  This  is  the  origin  too  of 
the  wedding  breakfast,  which  is  now  a  lunch.  Formerly 
marriages  were  celebrated  early,  eight  or  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  the  bride  and  groom  only  receiving  the  Holy  Com- 

*  The  Mystery   of  Marriage  by  H.   P.  Denison   is  a   useful   text  book  and  is 
also  a  good  book  to   give  young   people. 

t  Antichrist  and  Other   Sermons. — J.  N.  Figgis,  C.  R. 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  SYSTEM  177 

munion,  and  the  company  returning  to  the  bride's  home  for 
breakfast. 

The  promise  to  obey  in  the  marriage  service  has  provoked 
a  great  deal  of  discussion.  The  obligation  of  course  exists 
whether  or  no  the  promise  is  made,  and  authorities  of  the 
Roman  Church  have  indignantly  denied  the  assertion  that 
they  do  not  require  a  woman  to  obey  her  husband  "in  the 
Lord,"  that  is,  in  all  matters  except  matters  of  conscience. 
The  promise  to  obey  the  Church  includes  the  promise  to 
obey  all  in  authority  recognized  by  the  Church,  it  is  said. 
It  would  be  sad  indeed  to  see  our  Church  give  countenance 
and  encouragement  to  lax  and  unscriptural  notions  regard- 
ing the  duties  of  husbands  and  wives.  There  cannot  be  two 
heads  to  a  house ;  some  one  must  give  in  when  there  is  a 
disagreement,  and  modern  notions  have  not  produced  sta- 
bility or  happiness  in  marriage.  The  Sacramental  prin- 
ciple teaches  the  dignity  and  beauty  of  humility  and  gives 
us  our  Lord  as  our  example.  Woman  under  the 
Christian  religion  has  been  given  a  position  she  never 
had  under  any  other  civilization,  and  this  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  Jesus  Christ  exalted  the  virtues  of  humility,  purity, 
patience,  gentleness  and  spiritual  force — virtues  in  which 
women  could  excel.  As  long  as  women  stand  for  these 
things,  men  will  reverence  them,  and  woman's  place  of  honor 
and  power  in  society  is  assured ;  but  if  women  belittle  their 
spiritual  power  and  influence,  and  sneer  at  these  Christian 
virtues,  their  fall  is  certain. 

In  all  the  anti-Christian  cults,  Theosophy,  Christian 
Science,  New  Thought,  etc.,  marriage  is  the  institution 
attacked,  and  spiritual  marriages  of  various  kinds  are  the 
result.  "The  love  that  is  always  capitalized  and  exalted  in 
New  Thought,  as  in  Christian  Science,  is  another  dangerous 
factor  in  these  cults.  If  the  impersonal  Life  postulates  an 
ideal  which  tends  to  ultimate  spiritual  fatalism,  this  im- 
personal thing,  Love,  which  in  the  human  side  becomes 


178  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

tremendously  personal,  has  its  pernicious  mission.  The 
triumph  of  this  Universal  Love  leads  men  and  women  into 
relations  that  betray  the  weakness  of  human  nature."  ^ 

Christian  Science,  New  Thought  and  other  cults  make 
much  too  of  the  healing  of  the  body  by  the  mind  or  by  faith. 
We  see  faith  healing  also  in  the  Church  at  Lourdes  and  other 
shrines,  and  in  the  Emmanuel  movement.  There  are  certain 
clear  lines  laid  down  for  us,  by  which  we  may  judge  this 
work. 

First,  no  teaching  that  makes  light  of  sin,  and  denies  the 
Incarnation  and  the  Atonement,  is  of  God. 

Second,  our  Lord's  mission  on  earth  was  not  to  heal  men's 
bodies  but  to  save  their  souls ;  and  that  is  the  mission  of  the 
Church.  A  movement  that  makes  the  healing  of  the  body 
as  important  as  the  healing  of  the  soul  cannot  be  of  God. 
Would  the  crowds  who  come  to  be  healed  in  body  come  to 
be  healed  in  soul,  and  does  the  healing  of  the  body  lead  to 
confession  of  sin,  penitence  and  faith  in  Jesus  Christ?  If 
not,  the  Lord's  rebuke  to  the  Jews  at  Capernaum  would 
seem  applicable. 

Third,  all  Christian  prayer  is  prayer  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
and  according  to  His  will.  God  the  Father  "spared  not  His 
Son,"  and  it  may  be  His  will  not  to  spare  us.  If  He  does 
not  give  us  what  we  ask  we  ought  not  to  say  it  was  because 
we  lacked  faith,  if  we  asked  in  penitence  and  sincerity,  but 
rather  that  He  answered  our  prayer,  for  our  prayer  was 
"Thy  will  be  done." 

Fourth,  "The  wages  of  sin  is  death,"  and  we  must  pay 
the  wage  and  meet  the  last  enemy,  but  the  Christian  does 
not  see  or  taste  of  death,  for  the  sting  of  eternal  death  has 
been  taken  from  physical  death,  by  Him  who  conquered  sin 
and  death  and  in  whose  power  we  may  conquer. 

Fifth,  the  Incarnation  and  the  Sacraments  sanctify  and 
endorse  the  use  of  material  means.    The  Christian  physician, 

''  An  Angel  of  lyight. — Kenneth  Mackenzie. 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  SYSTEM  179 

who  ill  addition  to  the  use  of  means,  asks  God's  blessing  on 
His  work,  is  a  true  follower  of  the  Master.  We  may  well 
believe  the  knowledge  of  the  arts  of  healing  and  the  pre- 
vention of  disease  is  one  of  the  results  of  the  Incarnation, 
and  thank  God  for  giving  such  power  to  men. 

Sixth,  a  well-known  neurologist  told  the  writer  that  the 
Christian  priest  ought  to  be  of  the  greatest  assistance  to  the 
physician,  especially  in  nervous  cases,  but  that  the  clergy  he 
had  called  in  to  help  him  had  done  more  harm  than  good. 

Seventh,  with  the  use  of  means  for  the  healing  of  the  sick 
always  should  go  prayer  and  Sacraments,  and  it  should  not 
be  forgotten  the  Holy  Communion  is  for  the  body  as  well 
as  the  soul. 

To  the  neglect  of  Sacraments  and  Sacramental  teaching  is 
due  the  rise  of  many  of  these  cults.  The  writer  heard 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Emmanuel  movement,  treating 
nervous  and  mental  disorders,  say  no  persons  that  practice 
confession  have  come  to  them;  the  Sacrament  of  Penance 
seems  to  supply  the  need.  That  is  the  remedy  provided  by 
our  Lord.  In  sickness  the  Holy  Communion  should  be  fre- 
quently received,  and  the  Sacrament  of  Unction  also  in 
serious  illness.  Holy  Unction  sanctifies  the  means  used  for 
healing,  and  is  in  itself  a  source  of  strength  and  comfort. 
It  conveys  grace  to  body  and  soul.  In  the  Roman  Church 
it  is  only  used  in  extremis,  but  this  was  not  its  use  in  the 
early  Church.  St.  James^  shows  how  its  use  is  connected 
with  penitence  and  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  as  is  all  Chris- 
tian healing. 

The  thorn  in  the  flesh,  weakness,  sickness,  sorrow,  pain 
and  death,  are  the  wages  of  sin.  God  does  not  send  these 
things ;  He  allows  them.  He  spared  not  His  Son  and  He 
cannot  spare  us.  The  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
says  He  cannot  spare  us  because  we  are  Sons.  In  His 
Incarnation  the  Son  of  God  took  these  things  unto  Himself, 

•St.  James  5:14-16. 


180  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

bore  them  and  sanctified  them,  and  in  the  extension  of  the 
Incarnation  in  the  Sacraments,  He  takes  us  with  all  our  sins 
and  weakness  unto  Himself,  enables  us  to  make  our  infir- 
mities an  offering  to  God,  a  means  of  sanctification  and  the 
gate  of  heaven.  All  this  Christian  Science,  Theosophy  and 
New  Thought  deny,  as  do  all  religions  that  deny  the  doctrine 
of  the  Incarnation,  the  existence  of  sin  and  the  need  of 
redemption. 

"Man's  chief  end  is  to  glorify  God  and  to  enjoy  Him  for- 
ever." In  losing  himself  in  sacrifice,  self-denial,  and  self- 
limitation  for  the  glory  of  God,  man  finds  himself.  That  is 
the  lesson  of  Bethlehem  and  Calvary. 

The  first  sacrifice  of  a  life  was  oflfered  in  the  Garden  of 
Eden,  when  God  clothed  man  and  covered  his  nakedness 
and  his  shame.  Man  had  tried  to  cover  himself  but  had 
failed.  He  was  not  comfortable  or  happy  in  the  covering 
he  had  made  for  himself  and  he  dared  not  meet  God  in  it. 
He  went  and  hid  himself.  But  when  God  clothed  him  he 
could  once  more  speak  to  God.  To  provide  this  covering  an 
innocent  life  was  sacrificed,  and  this  too  was  to  be  a  lesson  to 
man.  As  time  went  on  man  beautified  his  clothing,  not  for 
God's  glory  but  for  his  own.  Then  God  took  this 
wrongly  directed  work  and  consecrated  it  for  His  glory  in 
the  worship  of  His  Temple  and  the  dress  of  His  priests 
who  were  ordained  to  offer  sacrifices.  The  priesthood  is  the 
witness  in  the  world  that  all  men  and  all  their  work  belong 
to  God,  and  man's  chief  duty  is  to  worship  God  in  the  offer- 
ing of  sacrifices.    The  priest's  dress  is  to  remind  men  of  this. 

A  Sacramental  religion  must  be  a  religion  of  symbol  and 
ceremonial,  and  the  war  has  taught  us  the  value  of  these 
things.  Some  one  has  said  all  dress  is  Sacramental,  that  is, 
it  expresses  the  manners  and  characteristics  of  a  people  and 
a  period,  and  has  an  effect  upon  the  wearer  and  on  society. 
The  Church  in  its  clergy  and  religious  orders,  the  State  in 
the  Army  and  Navy,  and  the  higher  civil  courts,  the  Salva- 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  SYSTEM  181 

liuii  Army  and  the  Quakers,  all  recognize  the  psychology  of 
dress.  The  enlisted  youth  in  his  new  uniform  is  the  same 
boy  he  was  before  he  put  it  on,  yet  he  is  different ;  he  feels 
it  and  his  family  feel  it,  although  they  may  not  realize  it. 
The  plain  clothes  man  is  useful  as  a  detective,  but  to  stop 
a  fight  you  want  the  man  in  uniform. 

Now  and  then  one  of  our  clergy,  not  understanding  the 
Sacramental  principle  or  human  psychology,  adopts  the  dress 
of  an  ordinary  business  man  to  be  democratic  and  "just  like 
other  men,"  thinking  in  this  way  to  get  closer  to  people.  The 
reverse  is  the  case.  He  ma}^  like  the  detective,  learn  more 
of  what  they  are  thinking,  but  he  does  not  get  close  to  them 
in  that  way.  What  plain  clothes  man  ever  got  as  close  to 
the  people  of  all  kinds  as  the  late  Dr.  Houghton,  Rector  of 
"the  Little  Church  around  the  corner"  in  New  York,  or 
Bishop  Brent,  the  former  Bishop  of  the  Philippines,  the  head 
of  our  Army  chaplains  in  France,  or  Father  Officer,  O.  H.  C, 
in  our  colleges  and  army  camps,  or  the  Bishop  of  Beth- 
lehem, formerly  of  Wyoming  and  Idaho,  our  beloved  Bishop 
Talbot,  or,  to  go  across  the  seas,  the  Bishop  of  London  ?  Our 
bishops  and  priests  have  told  how  in  travelling,  people  in 
trouble  come  to  them  because  by  their  dress  they  recognize 
they  are  men  of  God,  and  on  their  part  they  are  able  to 
approach  men  and  women  and  gain  their  confidence  because 
of  their  dress.  Rough  men  in  the  West  have  said  they  have 
gone  to  a  minister  of  the  Episcopal  Church  when  in  trouble 
"because  he  looked  different." 

The  Bishop  of  London,  in  his  opening  address  as  President 
of  the  Midland  Institute,  after  saying  he  had  hesitated  to 
speak  on  religion  to  such  a  gathering,  says  "After  all,  there 
is  great  truth  in  the  proverb  that  'the  shoemaker  should 
stick  to  his  last,'  and  it  cannot  be  entirely  without  purpose 
that  apparently  about  once  in  five  years  an  ecclesiastic  is 
brought  on  to  the  scene  here  in  his  plain  and  sober  raiment 
amid  the  glittering  galaxy  of  Generals  and  actors  and  scien- 


182  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

tists  and  other  distinguished  men  who  in  other  years  filled 
this  distinguished  office.  I  have  this  summer  had  the  high 
privilege  of  visiting  every  battleship,  battle  cruiser,  and 
most  of  the  smaller  ships  of  the  Grand  Fleet  of  Great 
Britain,  and  the  thousands  of  sailors  I  addressed  instantly 
caught  the  idea  that  of  course  I  came  to  represent  'Religion.' 
I  told  an  East-End  story  which  appealed  at  once  to  the  lower 
deck,  so  many  of  whom  come  from  places  like  Bethnal 
Green,  Poplar,  Stepney,  and  similar  localities  at  Portsmouth 
and  Chatham.  A  rather  shy  East-End  curate,  on  knocking 
at  a  door,  heard  a  voice  from  the  wash-tub  at  the  back  ask 
in  a  shrill  voice,  'Well,  Sally,  who  is  it?'  and  was  rather 
depressed  to  hear  Sally  shriek  back,  Tlease,  mother,  it's 
religion/  But,  as  I  told  the  sailors,  my  invariable  advice 
to  such  a  man  is  this,  'Don't  be  ashamed  of  representing 
religion ;  you  were  not  dressed  in  a  pudding  hat  and  a  dog 
collar  and  a  long  black  coat  to  talk  about  the  weather.'  "  * 

The  Church,  as  well  as  the  Army  and  the  Navy,  has  a 
service  uniform  for  the  street,  and  a  ceremonial  dress  for 
different  ceremonies.  The  surplice  and  stole  for  simple 
services,  and  the  Eucharistic  vestments  for  the  great  act  of 
worship,  be  it  plain  or  choral.  The  Eucharistic  vestments 
are  the  classical  vestments  worn  in  the  time  of  our  Lord. 
This  vesture  began  to  be  made  beautiful  by  the  use  of  costly 
material  and  woman's  loving  handiwork  when  the  days  of 
persecution  were  ended.  Readers  of  the  "Imitation"  will 
recall  the  meaning  of  the  priest's  dress  given  in  it  by  St. 
Thomas  a'Kempis.  So  dress  made  to  cover  man's  shame 
and  enable  him  to  hold  communion  with  God  and  his 
fellows  is  sanctified,  and  set  apart  and  offered  to  God  with 
thanksgiving,  for  the  Lamb  of  God  has  not  merely  covered 
our  shame  but  has  taken  away  our  sin. 

But  dress  is  only  one  of  the  symbols  used  by  the  Church 
and  the  State.    The  national  anthem,  and  the  flag  when  cere- 

•The  Potter  and  the  Clay.— A.  F.  W.  Ingram. 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  SYSTEM  183 

monially  displayed,  that  is,  when  carried  in  procession  or 
flown  at  headquarters  and  representing  the  nation,  are 
treated  with  outward  marks  of  reverence.  Is  it  strange  then 
that  Church  people  pay  a  mark  of  respect  to  the  altar,  God's 
throne,  and  the  Cross,  the  Christian  banner,  when  displayed 
on  the  altar  or  carried  in  procession  ?  ^^ 

Both  Church  and  State  believe  "Manners  maketh  man." 
The  youth  who  went  to  a  training  camp  full  of  patriotism, 
and  eager  to  fight,  found  the  first  thing  he  was  taught  was 
not  how  to  shoot,  but  how  to  salute  according  to  regulations. 
When  he  went  home  to  say  good-bye,  after  long  months  of 
dull  drill  and  discipline,  the  family  hardly  knew  him;  the 
careless,  easy-going  self-willed  boy  had  become  an  alert, 
well-mannered  man. 

The  Sacramental  system  sanctifies  material  and  common 
things,  so  that  whatever  we  do  we  may  do  all  for  the  glory  of 
God.  It  saves  us  from  temperamentalism  in  religion,  and 
teaches  our  religious  life  is  a  growth.  It  makes  us  realize  our 
dependence  on  God,  and  that  we  have  no  power  of  ourselves 
to  help  ourselves,  but  outwardly  in  our  bodies  and  inwardly 
in  our  souls  the  Great  Physician  must  apply  the  remedies 
that  alone  can  save,  and  it  enables  us  to  offer  something 
to  God.  "What  shall  I  render  unto  the  Lord  for  all  His 
benefits  toward  me?  I  will  take  the  cup  of  salvation,  and 
call  upon  the  Name  of  the  Lord." 

"More  and  more  as  I  muse  upon  it,"  says  Fr.  Figgis, 
"more  and  more  as  the  wonder  and  beauty  of  the  Catholic 
experience  of  all  ages  come  into  my  soul,  do  I  feel  that  the 
more  rich  and  strange  is  the  experience  that  may  be  ours, 
and  the  sense  of  praise  and  worship  and  of  God's  Presence 
given  to  us  in  our  Eucharistic  worship ;  and  more  and  more 
am  I  convinced  that  for  the  majority  of  men  and  women, 
not,  perhaps,  capable  through  time  or  temperament  of  high 

10  With  men  this  salute  consists  of  a  slight  bowing  of  the  head  or  body,  and 
with  women  a  slight  bending  of  the  knee,  and  is,  like  lifting  hat  and  courtesying, 
am  act  of  respect.     Genuflecting  is  an  act  of  adoration. 


184  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

speculation  or  of  any  great  powers  of  religious  rapture,  the 
system  of  external  ordinances  and  of  Sacramental  means  is 
the  one  truly  democratic  system  in  religion  which  gives 
them  each  and  all  their  place  and  their  rights  independent 
of  their  temperament,  their  education,  and,  if  I  may  say  so, 
of  their  character.  It  provides  for  them,  not  at  the  time 
when  they  are  at  their  best,  but  at  the  time  when  faith  burns 
dim,  when  the  light  of  life  seems  low,  when  everything  seems 
dull  and  nothing  worth  doing — then  they  can  come  and  rest 
in  the  beauty  of  the  Sacrament,  when  they  would  perhaps 
by  themselves  be  unable  to  make  prayers  of  any  meaning."  ^^ 

"  Hopes  for  English   Religion. — J.   N.   Figgis,  C.   R. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP 

THi:  matt£:r  and  thk  minisT£:r  o:^  Ti-iE  sacrame;nt 
OF  the:  holy  communion 

Question.  Why  was  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
ordained? 

Answer.    For  the  continual  remembrance  of  the  sacrifice  of  the 
death  of  Christ,  and  of  the  benefits  which  we  receive  thereby. 
Question.     What  is  the  outward  part  or  sign  of  the  Lord's  Supper? 

Answer.  Bread  and  Wine,  which  the  Lord  hath  commanded  to 
be  received. 

Question.    What  is  the  inward  part,  or  thing  signified? 
Answer.    The  Body  and   Blood  of   Christ,  which  are  spiritually 
taken  and  received  by  the  faithful  in  the  Lord's  Supper. 

Question.  What  are  the  benefits  whereof  we  are  partakers 
thereby  ? 

Answer.  The  strengthening  and  refreshing  of  our  souls  by  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  as  our  bodies  are  by  the  Bread  and  Wine. 

Question.  What  is  required  of  those  who  come  to  the  Lord's 
Supper? 

Answer.  To  examine  themselves,  whether  they  repent  them  truly 
of  their  former  sins,  stedfastly  purposing  to  lead  a  new  life;  have 
a  lively  faith  in  God's  mercy  through  Christ,  with  a  thankful  remem- 
brance of  his  death ;  and  be  in  charity  with  all  men, 

— The  Catechism,  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

Man's  highest  ideal  is  union  and  communion  with  God. 
This  is  the  cry  of  the  ages,  and  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Body 
and  Blood  of  Christ  that  cry  is  answered.  This  Sacrament 
is  called  by  various  names,  the  most  ancient  being  the  Holy 
Communion,  the  Holy  Mysteries,  the  Liturgy,  and  the 
Eucharist,  expressive  of  its  different  aspects. 

In  the  first  English  Prayer  Book  the  title  of  this  service 

185 


186  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

was  "The  Holy  Communion  commonly  called  the  Mass," 
and  a  Church  dictionary  defines  "the  Mass"  as  "The  Euchar- 
istic  service,  so  called  colloquially  at  first,  from  the  Dis- 
missals in  it."  The  service  is  every  where  and  always  divis- 
ible into  two  distinct  parts :  the  so-called  Pro-Anaphora 
(before  the  oblation),  which  we  call  the  Ante-Communion 
service,  and  the  Anaphora  (the  oblation).  The  first  part  is 
for  edification,  and  consists  of  readings  from  the  Bible,  the 
Epistle  and  Gospel,  some  prayers  and  the  sermon,  when  there 
is  one.  At  the  end  of  this  part  of  the  service  formerly  came 
the  first  dismissal.  The  unbaptized,  even  the  catechumens 
preparing  for  baptism,  the  ex-communicate,  and  those 
possessed  of  devils,  were  then  dismissed.  These  persons 
were  not  permitted  to  be  present  at  the  celebration  of  the 
Holy  Mysteries.  The  second  part  of  the  service  begins  with 
the  oblation  of  the  bread  and  wine,  and  is  for  worship.  At 
the  close  of  this  part  of  the  service  came  the  second  dis- 
missal with  the  words  ''Ite  missa  est."  So  the  first  part  came 
to  be  called  by  the  people  the  Mass,  or  dismissal,  of  the 
Catechumens,  and  the  second  the  Mass  of  the  Faithful. 
There  are  some  who  think  the  word  Mass  is  a  very  wicked 
Avord,  and  there  are  others  who  think  it  is  very  holy.  It  is 
neither.  It  is  a  short  popular  word  with  no  particular  mean- 
ing in  the  word  itself.  It  has,  however,  acquired  a  meaning 
by  long  association  in  the  West  with  the  Holy  Mysteries. 
Dr.  Stone  says  the  word  "lays  stress  through  its  associations 
on  the  momentous  facts  of  the  historic  continuity  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  and  that  English  and  foreign  Church- 
people,  seemingly  so  divided,  are  really  at  one  in  the  central 
devotion  of  their  lives." 

This  Sacrament  is  also  called  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  name 
originally  given  to  the  Agape  or  Love-feast  that  for  a  time 
was  held  in  the  evening  before  the  celebration  of  the  Euchar- 
ist, which  followed  in  the  early  morning.  On  the  night  in 
which  He  was  betrayed  our  Lord  ate  the  Last  Supper  with 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  187 

His  Apostles,  after  which  seem  to  have  come  the  discourses 
given  in  St.  John's  Gospel ;  then — after  midnight  perhaps — 
He  probably  began  to  recite  the  Jewish  morning  prayer  and 
"transformed  that  morning  prayer  with  its  memorial  of  sacri- 
fice, and  of  incense,  into  the  Eucharistic  service  for  His 
Church,  by  the  institution  in  it  of  the  New  Sacrament  that 
summed  up  the  old  memorials  into  One  Oblation.  *  *  *  The 
Mass  of  the  Faithful  is  as  unmistakably  based  on  the 
morning  service  of  the  Temple,  as  is  the  Ante-Communion 
Service,  the  Mass  of  the  Catechumens,  based  on  the  second 
part  of  the  Jewish  Liturgy  for  the  morning,  the  Torah,  the 
part  special  to  the  Synagogue."  ^ 

The  Apostles'  first  thought  in  celebrating  the  Eucharist 
seems  to  have  been  to  reproduce  as  nearly  as  possible  every 
detail  of  the  original  institution.  ''That  is  it,"  says  Canon 
Baring-Gould  "which  furnishes  the  key  to  explain  all  the 
peculiarities  of  the  Eucharist.  *  *  *  j^  ^y^s  this  desire 
exactly  to  reproduce  the  order  of  events  which  induced  the 
primitive  Church  to  celebrate  an  Agape  in  the  evening  before 
the  Eucharist,  to  combine  a  Lord's  Supper  with  the  New 
Institution.  *  *  *  In  St.  Paul's  time  (A.  D.  57,  58)  the 
Eucharist  was  plainly  combined  with  this  supper.  The 
instructions  he  gives  to  the  Corinthians  (I  Cor.  xi,  20-34) 
seem  to  imply  it.  The  assembly  was  held,  and  in  eating  the 
Lord's  Supper  (the  Agape)  there  was  a  sad  exhibition  of 
greed  and  bad  manners.  There  were  cases  of  drunkeness. 
*  *  *  Then — immediately  after,  came  the  Eucharist,  the 
institution  of  which  St.  Paul  proceeds  to  give,  and  finally 
warns  the  Corinthians  of  the  danger  of  unworthy  Com- 
munion if  they  venture  to  receive  the  Eucharist  in  the  state 
of  acerbity,  inebriation,  and  disorder  in  which  the  Love-Feast 
has  plunged  some  of  them.  'What!'  he  exclaims,  'have  ye 
not  (your  own)  houses  to  eat  and  drink  in?  or  despise  ye  the 
church  of  God,  and  shame  them  that  have  not  ? — Wherefore, 

*  Our   Inheritance. — S.   Baring-Gould. 


188  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

my  brethren,  when  ye  come  together  to  eat  (the  Agape), 
tarry  one  for  another.  And  if  any  man  hunger,  let  him  eat 
at  home ;  that  ye  come  not  together  unto  condemnation.' " 

"In  the  account  of  the  assembly  at  Troas,  the  same  order 
was  probably  followed.  'Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week' 
(i.  e.,  after  sunset  on  Saturday),  'when  the  disciples  came 
together  to  break  bread'  (in  the  Agape),  'Paul  preached  unto 
them,  ready  to  depart  on  the  morrow,  and  continued  his 
speech  until  midnight.'  There  were  the  breaking  of  bread 
and  instructions  first,  as  on  the  occasion  of  the  Last  Supper ; 
first  the  supper,  and  then  the  discourse.  Then  came  mid- 
night, and  after  midnight,  as  we  are  expressly  informed, 
ensued  the  Eucharist,  the  second  breaking  of  bread."  The 
Agape  on  account  of  the  scandals  that  arose  from  it  was  soon 
separated  from  the  Eucharist,  and  celebrated  on  Sunday 
night  or  some  other  time,  and  it  was  finally  discontinued 
entirely ;  but  the  Eucharist  still  retained  the  name  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  "given  to  it  when  held  in  conjunction  with 
the  Agape,  a  designation  proper  only  to  this  precedent 
Supper." 

Whether  the  Lord  ate  the  Passover  with  His  Apostles 
before  He  instituted  the  new  rite  in  His  Body  and  Blood, 
or  whether  the  meal  He  ate  was  an  ordinary  supper,  has  been 
a  matter  of  dispute  for  centuries.  The  Synoptic  Evangelists 
seem  to  assert  that  the  Last  Supper  and  the  Passover  took 
place  on  the  14th- 15th  Nisan,  and  that  Christ  died  on  the 
15th,  while  St.  John  in  his  Gospel,  written  after  these,  states 
very  clearly  that  Jesus  ate  the  Last  Supper  on  the  day  before 
the  Feast,  and  died  on  the  14th  Nisan. ^  He  says  it  was  on 
the  preparation  of  the  Passover  that  our  Lord  was  crucified, 
that  He  died  at  the  time  the  Paschal  lambs  were  being  slain 
at  the  Temple,  and  that  the  Sabbath  following  "was  a  high 
day."    St.  John,^  St.  Mark*  and  St.  Matthew"'  agree  with  this. 

"St.  John  18:28.  *  St.  Mark  15:42. 

•St.   John  19:14,30.  'St.   Matthew  27:62. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  189 

"If  we  put  ourselves  in  the  position  of  reckoning  days  from 
sundown,  the  difficulties  disappear,  and  the  Synoptics  are 
reconciled  with  St.  John  who,  in  his  account  leaves  no  doubt 
about  the  matter.  *  *  *  If  we  insist  on  the  synoptic  Evan- 
gelists as  asserting  that  the  Institution  was  on  the  14th-15th 
— then  we  make  them  contradict  themselves.  *  *  *  The 
tradition  of  the  Church,  burnt  into  its  heart,  is  that  Jesus 
died  on  the  14th  Nisan.  *  *  *  j^  the  second  place,  the  un- 
wavering usage  of  the  Church  in  the  first  centuries,  the  never 
altered  usage  of  the  Oriental  Church  to  the  present  day,  has 
been  to  employ  for  the  Eucharist  leavened  bread,  because 
Christ  instituted  the  Holy  Sacrament  on  the  13th-14th  Nisan 
in  leavened  bread.  *  *  *  When  unleavened  bread  was 
introduced  in  the  West  in  the  5th  and  6th  centuries  it  was 
under  a  misconception — the  supposition  that  Christ  had  ante- 
dated the  Passover."  ^  This  is  the  opinion  of  Canon  Baring- 
Gould  and  many  others,  and  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  Eastern 
Church  on  this  question,  but  while  it  is  a  matter  of  interest, 
it  is  not  of  serious  importance.  There  is  no  doubt,  however, 
that  the  Passover  our  Lord  so  greatly  desired  to  eat  with 
His  disciples  was  not  the  old  rite,  but  the  new  rite  which 
He  would  institute  in  His  Body  and  Blood. 

The  minister  of  this  Sacrament  is  a  bishop  or  priest  of 
the  CathoHc  Church.  "No  man  taketh  this  honor  to  himself, 
but  he  that  is  called  of  God  as  was  Aaron,"  says  the  writer 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  Under  the  Old  Covenant, 
when  the  sacrifices  were  but  types  and  figures,  any 
"stranger,"  that  is  any  one  not  of  the  seed  of  Aaron,  and 
therefore  not  divinely  appointed  and  duly  consecrated,  who 
presumed  to  perform  priestly  functions  was  severely  pun- 
ished. The  case  of  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram  is  a  striking 
illustration  of  this.  Moses  said  to  these  Levites,  "Ye  take 
too  much  upon  you,  seeing  all  the  congregation  are  holy,  every 
one  of  them,  and  the  Lord  is  among  them :  wherefore  then 

•  Our  Inheritance. — S.  Baring-Gould. 
13 


190  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

lift  ye  up  yourselves  above  the  congregation  of  the  Lord? 
*  *  *  The  Lord  will  shew  who  are  His ;  and  who  is  holy ; 
and  will  cause  him  to  come  near  unto  Him :  even  him  whom 
He  hath  chosen  will  He  cause  to  come  near  unto  Him.  *  *  * 
Ye  take  too  much  upon  yourselves,  ye  sons  of  Levi.  *  *  * 
Seemeth  it  but  a  small  thing  unto  you,  that  the  God  of 
Israel  hath  separated  you  from  the  congregation  of  Israel, 
to  bring  you  near  to  Himself  to  do  the  service  of  the  taber- 
nacle of  the  Lord,  and  to  stand  before  the  congregation  to 
minister  unto  them?  And  He  hath  brought  thee  near  to 
Him,  and  all  thy  brethren  the  sons  of  Levi  with  thee:  and 
seek  ye  the  priesthood  also  ?"  ^ 

"If  thou  hadst  the  purity  of  Angels  and  the  sanctity  of 
Saint  John  Baptist,"  says  St.  Thomas  a'Kempis,  "thou 
wouldst  not  be  worthy  to  receive  or  to  touch  this  Sacrament. 
For  this  is  not  due  to  the  deserts  of  men,  that  man  should 
consecrate  and  handle  the  Sacrament  of  Christ :  and  receive 
for  food  the  bread  of  Angels.  Grand  is  this  ministry,  great 
too  is  the  dignity  of  Priests :  to  whom  has  been  granted  that 
which  is  not  permitted  to  Angels.  For  none  but  Priests  duly 
ordained  in  the  Church:  have  power  to  celebrate  and  to 
consecrate  the  Body  of  Christ.  The  Priest  is  indeed  the 
minister  of  God :  using  the  word  of  God  by  God's  command 
and  appointment.  Nevertheless  God  is  there  the  principal 
Author  and  invisible  Worker ;  to  Whom  all  that  He  wills  is 
subordinate :  and  all  that  He  commands  is  obedient."  *  The 
Church  has  ever  taught  that  Christ  is  the  true  priest,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  the  true  consecrator  of  the  Sacrament.  The 
priest  at  the  Altar  is  merely  the  agent. 

Those  who  left  the  communion  of  the  Catholic  Church 
at  the  Reformation  repudiated  the  teaching  of  the  Euchar- 
istic  Sacrifice,  and  had  various  ideas  of  the  value  of  this 
Sacrament  as  a  Communion  and  means  of  grace.     Their 

T  Numbers  16:1-41. 

•  The  Imitation  of  Christ. — Thomas   a'Kempii. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  191 

ministers  claimed  to  be  preachers  of  the  Word;  the  most 
prominent  object  in  their  meeting  houses,  as  they  called  their 
places  of  assembly,  was,  and  is,  the  pulpit,  not  the  altar ; 
their  ministers  did  not,  and  do  not  now,  claim  to  be  priests 
or  to  offer  sacrifices.  Had  they  made  the  latter  claim  we 
believe  the  history  of  these  sects  would  have  been  dift'erent. 
God  blessed  their  preaching  of  the  Word  and  their  zeal 
for  Him. 

The  Anglican  Church  does  claim  to  be  a  part  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  to  ordain  priests  and  to  offer  the  Sacrifice 
of  the  Eucharist.  The  Ordinal  and  the  service  of  the  Holy 
Communion  testify  to  this,  while  the  rubric  requiring  con- 
firmation for  those  who  would  be  communicants,  testifies  to 
belief  in  the  priesthood  of  the  laity.  Moreover,  the  more 
our  Church  has  asserted  its  Catholicity,  not  in  word  but  in 
deed ;  the  more  clerg}'  and  laity  have  believed  in  their  priest- 
hood and  acted  upon  this  belief ;  the  more  the  Eucharist  is 
honored  as  the  re-presentation  to  Ahnighty  God  of  the  one 
"full,  perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice,  oblation,  and  satis- 
faction, for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,"  the  Communion  of 
the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  the  centre  of  our  worship 
and  life ;  the  more  this  Church  of  ours  proves  she  is  Catholic 
and  has  the  Spirit  within  her,  the  more  she  grows  and  pros- 
pers, and  arouses  the  opposition  of  the  powers  of  Evil. 
We  may  be  quite  sure  this  would  not  be  so  if  her  claim  w^as 
a  false  one,  her  priests  committing  sacrilege  and  her  people 
hving  on  delusions. 

The  matter,  or  "outward  and  visible  sign,"  of  the  Sacra- 
ment is  bread  and  wine.  Both  must  be  consecrated  and  both 
partaken  of  by  the  celebrant.  The  bread  must  be  made  of 
the  purest  wheat  flour  unadulterated,  and  should  be  specially 
made  for  the  purpose.  In  the  East,  with  the  small  exception 
of  the  Armenians  and  xvlaronites,  leavened  bread  is  used. 
It  is  made  of  the  finest  wheat  flour  in  small  loaves,  stamped 
with  a  cross  and  other  emblems.  St.  Paul  says,  "We  being 
many  are  one  bread,  and  one  body :  for  we  are  all  partakers 


192  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

of  that  one  bread."*  "Since  about  the  end  of  the  ninth 
century  the  usual  custom  in  the  West  has  been  to  use  un- 
leavened bread."  The  Church  of  Rome  to-day  orders  its 
use  while  allowing  the  validity  of  the  consecration  of  leavened 
bread,  and  permitting  the  use  of  the  latter  to  the  Uniats  or 
Eastern  Christians  in  communion  with  the  Church  of 
Rome.  The  Anglican  Church  permits  the  use  of  either 
leavened  or  unleavened  bread,  but  the  best  and  purest  wheat 
bread  must  be  used.  This  of  course  does  not  allow  the  use 
of  baker's  bread,  which  is  not  the  purest  and  best,  and 
makes  it  necessary  to  use,  as  has  always  been  the  custom, 
bread  made  for  the  purpose.  Unleavened  bread  is  being 
largely  used  by  us  as  convenient  and  pure.  It  is  made  in 
Religious  Houses  or  by  Altar  Societies,  of  the  finest  wheat 
flour  and  for  this  special  use.  It  will  keep  sweet  and  good 
for  a  long  time,  and  as  it  does  not  crumble  it  is  convenient 
to  administer.  Unleavened  bread  is  also  used  by  the 
Lutherans.  The  use  of  ordinary  bread  "was  forbidden  by 
the  sixth  canon  of  the  Sixteenth  Council  of  Toledo,  in  693, 
where  priests  are  condemned  for  cutting  off  round  slices 
from  their  common  house  bread."  ^^ 

"It  is  in  a  high  degree  probable  that  the  wine  used  by  our 
Lord  at  the  institution  of  the  Sacrament  was  mixed  with 
water.  Pure  wine  was  rarely  drunk  in  ancient  times. "^^  That 
the  mixed  chalice  was  the  custom  in  the  early  Church  there 
is  frequent  testimony  from  the  second  century  down.  Wine 
alone,  however,  may  be  consecrated  and  be  a  valid  Sacra- 
ment, but  not  un fermented  grape  juice  or  water  alone.  The 
amount  of  water  used  in  the  chalice  is  very  small. 

"In  the  early  Church  Communion  was  administered  and 
received  in  both  kinds  in  all  ordinary  cases.  *  *  *  f  j^g 
evidence  for  this  fact  is  so  clear  that  Cardinal  Bona,  though 

•I  Cor,  10:17. 

»»  Our  Inheritance. — S.   Baring-Gould. 

"  The  Holy  Communion. — Darwell  Stone. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  193 

defending  the  restriction  of  the  chahce  to  the  celebrant, 
wrote :  *It  is  certain  that  all  in  general,  clergy  and  laity,  men 
and  women,  anciently  received  the  holy  mysteries  in  both 
kinds  when  they  were  present  at  the  solemn  celebration 
of  them,  and  both  offered  and  were  partakers/  'The  faith- 
ful always  and  everywhere,  from  the  very  beginning 
of  the  Church  even  to  the  twelfth  century,  communicated 
under  the  form  of  bread  and  wine/  *  *  *  'po  the  pres- 
ent time  Communion  in  both  kinds  in  ordinary  cases  has  re- 
mained the  custom  of  the  Eastern  Churches.  *  *  ^k  jj^ 
the  West  the  chalice  was  gradually  withdrawn  from  all  com- 
municants except  the  celebrant.  Writing  near  the  end  of 
the  third  quarter  of  the  thirteenth  century,  S.  Thomas 
Aquinas  says  that  'certain  Churches'  and  'many  Churches'  do 
not  give  the  chalice  to  the  laity.  *  *  ♦  After  the  time 
of  S.  Thomas  Aquinas  the  two  methods  continued  for 
awhile  side  by  side.  *  *  *  The  Council  of  Constance  in 
1415  made  Communion  in  one  kind  for  the  laity  the  law  of 
the  Western  Church."  ^^  Reverence  for  the  Sacrament  was 
the  reason  given  for  withdrawing  the  chalice  from  the  laity, 
and  as  the  whole  Christ  is  received  in  each  species  it  was  said 
to  be  unnecessary  to  receive  in  both  kinds.  While  it  is  of 
course  true  that  the  whole  living,  risen  and  glorified  Christ  is 
received  in  each  species,  and  any  other  view  "would  seem, 
inseparably  connected  with  a  carnal  and  materialistic  view," 
the  withdrawal  of  the  cup  from  the  laity  is  a  serious  breach 
of  Catholic  practice,  and  disobedience  to  our  Lord's  own 
command  on  the  plea  of  doing  honor  to  Him. 

That  the  chalice  has  a  grace  of  its  own  is  taught  by  many 
theologians,  including  Romans.  Canon  Mason  says,  "The 
gift  of  the  cup  is  not  simply  the  gift  of  Christ's  Blood,  but 
of  Christ's  Blood  'which  is  poured  out  (shed)  on  behalf  of 
many.'  "  ^^  Its  sacrificial  significance  was  understood  by  the 
Apostles  when  at  the  institution  of  the  New  Covenant  our 

'*  The   Holy  Communion. — Darwell   Stone. 
»»  The  Faith  of  the  flospel.--A.  J.  Masoa. 


194  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

Lord  took  the  cup,  and  gave  thanks,  and  said,  "Drink  ye  all 
of  this;  for  this  is  my  Blood  of  the  New  Covenant,  which 
is  shed  for  you,  and  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins." 
Bishop  Alexander  Forbes  says,  ''While  the  Sacrament  under 
one  kind  conveys  all  the  graces  necessary  to  salvation,  the 
chalice  has  a  special  grace  of  its  own, — the  grace  of  gladden- 
ing." Even  those  who  deny  the  chalice  to  the  laity  seem  to 
admit  it  has  a  special  grace.  "The  leave  given  by  Pope 
Clement  VI.  to  the  King  of  France  to  communicate  in  both 
kinds  has  never  been  withdrawn ;  and  as  late  as  1825  King 
Charles  X.  received  Communion  in  both  kinds  at  his  corona- 
tion." The  Bull  granting  this  permission  says  it  is  given 
"for  the  greater  increase  of  grace."  ^*  The  chalice  in  the 
Church  of  Rome  is  a  privilege  for  the  privileged.  In  the 
hymn  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  which  now  forms  part  of  the 
Latin  office  of  Matins  on  Corpus  Christi,  we  find  these 
words  in  speaking  of  the  Apostles : 

"He  gave  them,  weak  and  frail, 
His  flesh,  their  food  to  be; 
On  them,  downcast  and  sad, 
His  blood  bestowed  He." 

The  chalice  is  indeed  the  wine  of  God  "which  maketh  glad 
the  heart  of  man."  "Drink  this  in  remembrance  that  Christ's 
Blood  was  shed  for  thee,  and  be  thankful." 

In  the  East,  in  administering  the  Sacrament  a  small  piece 
of  the  species  of  bread  is  dipped  in  the  chalice  and  admin- 
istered with  a  spoon.  The  dipping  of  a  sop  in  the  wine  cup 
was  in  the  East  a  very  common  way  of  partaking  of  bread 
and  wine,  and  this  method  of  administering  the  Sacrament 
was  adopted  very  early.  In  the  Church  of  Rome  to-day  the 
priest  puts  the  species  of  bread  in  the  mouth  of  the  com- 
municant, and  the  reed  as  an  instrument  of  the  Passion  has 
also  been  used  in  the  Church  of  Rome  as  "an  instrument  of 
the  Mass,"  for  Communion.  St.  Thomas  a'Kempis,  alluding 
to  this  custom,  says,  "Thou  art  a  fountain  always  full  and 

1*  The  Holy  Communion. — Darwell  Stone. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  195 

overflowing:  a  fire  ever  burning,  and  never  going  out. 
Wherefore  if  I  am  not  permitted  to  draw  out  of  the  full 
fountain  nor  to  drink  my  fill :  I  will,  notwithstanding  set  my 
lips  to  the  mouth  of  this  heavenly  conduit ;  that  I  may  receive 
from  thence  at  least  some  drop  to  allay  my  thirst."  ^^  It  is 
said  Pope  Leo  XIII,  who  was  devoted  to  ancient  customs, 
always  communicated  himself  with  a  reed,  which  of  course 
was  burned  after  the  Mass. 

In  the  Anglican  Communion  the  ancient  method  of  ad- 
ministering the  Sacrament  has  been  restored.  In  times  of 
epidemic,  and  in  tuberculosis  camps  where  there  is  danger 
of  infection,  the  Sacrament  has  been  administered,  with  the 
permission  of  the  Diocesan,  by  intinction ;  that  is,  the  Sacred 
wafer  is  half  dipped  in  the  chalice  and  put  in  the  mouth  of 
the  communicant — a  spoon  is  not  used.  It  is  hoped  that 
authority  will  be  given  the  Bishops  to  grant  this  permission 
when  and  where  they  deem  it  necessary  to  do  so,  but  we 
should  beware  of  hysteria  and  give  heed  to  Dr.  Stone's  wise 
words.  "In  the  rough  days  of  the  Middle  Ages,"  he  says, 
"the  reverent  administration  of  the  chalice  may  often  have 
been  far  from  easy.  At  the  present  time  objections  have 
been  urged  against  the  Anglican  method  of  giving  Commun- 
ion on  quite  different  grounds  by  doctors  and  others.  In 
all  such  difficulties,  whatever  their  right  solution  may  be, 
the  withdrawal  of  the  species  of  wine  from  others  than  the 
celebrant  is  one  of  those  rough  and  ready  ways  of  dealing 
with  a  problem  for  which  in  the  end  men  pay  dear."  ^^ 

"Whoso  of  this  food  partaketh, 
Rendeth  not  the  Lord  nor  breaketh — 

Christ  is  whole  to  all  that  taste : 
Thousands  are,  as  one,  receivers, 
One,  as  thousands  of  believers, 

Eats  of  Him  who  cannot  waste. 

'*  The  Imitation  of  Christ. — Thomas  a'Kempis. 
^*  The  Holy  Communion. — Darwell  Stone. 


196  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

"Bad  and  good  the  feast  are  sharing, 
O  what  diverse  dooms  preparing, 

Endless  death,  or  endless  life: 
Life  to  these — to  those  damnation, 
See  how  like  participation 

Is  with  unlike  issues  rife. 

"When  the  Sacrament  is  broken, 
Doubt  not,  but  believe  'tis  spoken 
That  each  severed  outward  token 
Doth  the  very  whole  contain: 
Nought  the  precious  Gift  divideth. 
Breaking  but  the  sign  betideth, 
Jesus  still  the  same  abideth, 

Still  unbroken  doth  remain. 

"Lo !  the  angels'  food  is  given 
To  the  pilgrim  who  hath  striven; 
See  the  children's  Bread  from  heaven. 

Which  on  dogs  may  not  be  spent: 
Truth  the  ancient  types  fulfilling, 
Isaac  bound,  a  victim  willing. 
Paschal  lamb,  its  life-blood  spilling, 

Manna  to  the  fathers  sent. 

"Very  Bread,  good  Shepherd,  tend  us, 
Jesu,  of  Thy  love  befriend  us. 
Thou  refresh  us.  Thou  defend  us. 
Thine  eternal  goodness  send  us 

In  the  land  of  life  to  see ; 
Thou  who  all  things  canst  and  knowest. 
Who  on  earth  such  food  bestowest, 
Grant  us  with  Thy  Saints,  though  lowest, 
Where  the  heavenly  feast  Thou  showest, 

Fellow-heirs  and  guests  to  be."  " 

"  S.  Thomas  Aquinas. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP 

THE  HOIvY  COMMUNION 

The  Eucharist  is  the  center  of  the  Sacramental  system  and 
the  center  of  the  Church's  hfe.  It  has  been  called  the  Sacra- 
ment of  Sacraments,  for  it  is  the  Sacrament  to  which  all 
others  point,  in  which  they  culminate,  and  from  which  all 
spiritual  exercises  derive  their  power.  Baptism,  confirma- 
tion, marriage  and  unction ;  prayer,  Bible  and  spiritual  read- 
ing, and  active  service,  all  center  in  the  Eucharist.  In  the 
other  Sacraments  the  Lord  confers  life  or  grace;  in  this 
Sacrament  He  comes  Himself.  That  is  why  we  worship 
and  adore.  But  how  does  He  come  ?  Ah,  we  do  not  know. 
It  is  a  great  mystery.  We  reject  the  doctrine  of  Transub- 
stantiation,  because  "  'it  overthroweth  the  nature  of  the 
Sacrament'  by  destroying  the  reality  of  the  medium  of  com- 
munication. *  *  *  \Ye  object  to  Transubstantiation  be- 
cause it  is  an  explanation.  *  *  *  We  should  be  bound 
equally  to  repudiate  any  other  explanation  of  this  Sacra- 
mental union."  ^  The  Russian  and  Greek  Churches,  while 
adopting  the  word,  carefully  repudiate  any  philosophical 
explanation  of  the  term. 

Speaking  of  certain  aspects  of  belief  in  the  Church  of 
Rome,  Fr.  Figgis  says,  "We  resent  its  hard  outlines,  its 
clear  distinctions,  its  arrogance  of  certitude ;  while  its  attempt 
to  secure  an  intellectually  coercive  proof  of  God's  being 
strikes  us  as  both  ineffectual  and  unattractive.  It  is  not 
valid;  and  if  it  were  valid,  it  would  destroy  the  very  belief 
it  proves,  and  it  would  make  God  inferior  to  our  intelligence. 

»  Bible  T«a8hmgs.— R.  M.  Bensoa.  S.  S.  J.  E. 

197 


198  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

So  with  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation.  It  is  not  to  the 
truth  therein  enshrined  that  the  EngHsh  mind  objects,  but 
to  the  attempt  to  rationalise  a  mystery.  The  same  feature 
was  prominent  in  the  revolt  of  the  last  century  against  the 
cruder  forms  of  'the  scheme  of  salvation/  as  it  used  to  be 
called.  Men  did  not  so  much  object  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
Atonement,  but  they  shrank  from  the  familiar  and  almost 
vulgar  way  in  which  coarse  analogies  were  pressed,  and 
attempts  were  made  to  measure  a  profound  and  glorious 
mystery  by  line  and  rule."^  "It  is  rather  with  Thomas  of 
Acquino  singing  as  the  saint  than  with  the  Angelic  Doctor 
writing  as  the  theologian  that  the  light  and  rest  of  the  soul 
will  be  found.^ 

"Miracles,"  says  Fr.  Benson,  "belong  to  the  economy  of 
nature.  Mysteries  belong  to  the  economy  of  grace.  Mir- 
acles are  a  marvel  of  a  transitory  world.  'Your  fathers  did 
eat  manna  in  the  wilderness,  and  are  dead.'  Mysteries 
possess  an  inherent,  abiding  power.  'If  any  man  eat  of  the 
living  Bread  he  shall  live  for  ever.'  *  *  *  Miracles  are  at 
least  an  apparent  disturbance  of  the  law  of  nature.  Mysteries 
are  the  regular  and  changeless  working  of  a  supernatural 
power,  according  to  the  law  of  a  higher  world.  *  *  *  Mir- 
acles have  a  spiritual  occasion,  but  their  reality  is  outward, 
not  affecting  spiritual  life.  Mysteries  have  nothing  outward 
to  make  them  manifest,  but  they  have  an  inward  reality, 
quite  independent  of  outward  recognition." 

It  was  at  the  very  height  of  His  popularity  that  our  Lord 
uttered  the  strange  and  mysterious  words  recorded  in  the 
sixth  chapter  of  St.  John's  Gospel.  "I  am  the  living  bread 
which  came  down  from  Heaven :  if  any  man  eat  of  this 
bread,  he  shall  live  forever :  and  the  bread  that  I  will  give  is 
my  flesh,  which  I  will  give  for  the  life  of  the  world.  The 
Jews  therefore  strove  among  themselves,  saying,  How  can 
this  man  give  us  His  flesh  to  eat?    Then  Jesus  said  unto 

•The  Gospel  and  Human  Needs.— J.  N.  Figgis,  C.  R. 
'  The  Holy  Communion. — Darwell  Stone. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  199 

them,  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh 
of  the  Son  of  man,  and  drink  His  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in 
you.  Whoso  eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath 
eternal  life ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day."* 

That  those  who  heard  these  words  understood  them  liter- 
ally, and  that  the  Christ  intended  they  should  so  understand 
them,  no  unprejudiced  reader  of  this  chapter  can  doubt.  It 
was  "a  hard  saying"  and  impossible  to  understand;  the 
IMaster  did  not  deny  it,  He  knew  it  would  test  their  faith 
to  the  utmost,  but  for  two  years  He  had  been  pre- 
paring them  for  such  trust  in  Him.  Would  they  stand  the 
test?  "From  that  time  many  of  His  disciples  went  back, 
and  walked  no  more  with  Him.  Then  said  Jesus  unto  the 
twelve.  Will  ye  also  go  away  ?"  Simon  Peter,  always  im- 
pulsive, and  faith  triumphing  over  perplexity  and  distress, 
answered  Him,  ''Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go?  Thou  hast 
the  words  of  eternal  life.  And  we  believe  and  are  sure  that 
thou  art  that  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God."^ 

St.  Peter  found  the  answer  to  the  question,  the  solution 
of  the  difficulty,  the  rock  on  which  alone  faith  can  build,  in 
the  person  of  Jesus  Christ.  If  we  hold  the  doctrine  of  the 
Incarnation  in  its  fullness,  if  we  accept  this  miracle  of  mir- 
acles, we  will  not  boggle  over  its  miraculous  manifestations 
or  the  mysteries  of  its  extension. 

The  disciples  whose  faith  failed,  and  who  "walked  no  more 
with  Him,"  had  sought  and  followed  Him  for  worldly  ad- 
vantage and  material  things,  for  which  the  Master  rebuked 
them.  "Ye  seek  Me,  not  because  of  the  miracles,  but  because 
ye  did  eat  of  the  loaves,  and  were  filled."  The  miracles  were 
signs  to  prove  that  He  came  from  God,  and  lead  them  to  trust 
in  Him ;  but  they  were  blind  and  said,  "Is  not  this  Jesus,  the 
son  of  Joseph?  how  is  it  then  that  He  saith,  I  came  down 
from  heaven  ?"    He  spoke  to  them  of  everlasting  life,  of  the 

*St.  John  6:51-54. 
•  St.  John  6:66-69. 


200  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

resurrection  of  the  dead,  of  the  ascension  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  carrying  our  humanity  to  Heaven  whence  He  came, 
and  He  bid  them  'discern  His  Body'  existing  under  different 
conditions,  but  they  would  not  lift  their  hearts  unto  the 
Lord.  The  heavenly  kingdom  and  the  heavenly  food  made 
no  appeal  and  had  no  attraction  for  them.  They  were  seek- 
ing one  who  would  "make  this  world  a  better  place  to  live 
in" ;  so  "they  departed  to  the  things  that  were  behind"  ® — a 
literal  translation. 

The  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God  is  the  rock  on  which 
the  Catholic  Faith  and  the  Catholic  Church  is  built — other 
foundation  can  no  man  lay — but  this  rock  has  ever  been 
a  stone  of  stumbling  and  a  rock  of  offense  to  materialists. 
Those  who  do  not  believe  in  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ, 
or  who  seek  Him  for  worldly  objects,  however  high  and 
noble,  may  follow  Him  for  a  time  as  a  prophet  or  an  example ; 
but  when  He  begins  to  say  hard  things  and  disappoint  their 
hopes,  they  will  leave  Him,  some  sorrowfully,  others  mock- 
ing and  reviling  Him.  "We  thought  that  it  had  been  He 
which  should  have  stopped  wars,  ended  poverty  and  injustice, 
and,  like  Moses,  given  us  bread  without  labor,"  they  say,  as 
they  go  away  to  seek  another  leader. 

The  five  thousand  going  up  to  Jerusalem,  who  had  seen  the 
miracles  that  He  did,  many  of  them  His  disciples,  when  they 
did  eat  of  the  loaves  and  were  filled,  hailed  Him  as  the 
Messiah  and  would  take  Him  by  force  and  make  Him  a 
King ;  but  when  Jesus  perceived  it  He  departed  unto  a  moun- 
tain alone.  It  was  alone  in  the  mountain  wilderness  at  the 
beginning  of  His  ministry  that  He  had  fought  and  conquered 
this  temptation,  but  the  suggestion  comes  to  Him  again  and 
again.  Each  time  He  recognizes  its  source.  "Have  not  I 
chosen  you  twelve,  and  one  of  you  is  a  devil  ?  He  spake  of 
Judas  Iscariot  the  son  of  Simon :  for  he  it  was  that  .should 
betray  Him,  being  one  of  the  twelve."    Judas  seems  to  have 

•  St.  John  6:66. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  201 

been  the  leader  of  the  movement,  in  which  probably  the 
other  eleven  also  took  part,  to  make  Jesus  a  King,  and  the 
discourse  at  Capernaum  marks  the  beginning  of  his  dis- 
affection and  downfall.  A  year  later,  when  Jesus  went  up 
to  Jerusalem  to  keep  the  Passover,  He  accepted  the  homage 
and  encouraged  the  hosannas  of  the  people;  then,  led  by 
Judas,  they  crowned  Him  with  thorns,  and  brought  Him  to 
Calvary  and  nailed  Him  to  a  cross,  and  over  His  head  His 
accusation  was  written,  "This  is  Jesus,  the  King  of  the  Jews." 

When  the  shadows  deepened  and  the  storm  gathered  about 
Him  on  the  night  on  which  He  was  betrayed,  as  He  took 
the  bread  and  blessed  and  break  it,  and  said,  "Take,  eat,  this 
is  my  Body,"  and  took  the  cup  and  gave  thanks,  and  said, 
"This  is  my  Blood  of  the  New  Covenant,  Drink  ye  all  of  it," 
that  day  at  Capernaum  and  the  strange  discourse  must  have 
been  instantly  and  vividly  recalled.  Not  until  Pentecost, 
however,  did  they  understand  it  fully.  Then  they  learned 
what  the  Lord  meant  when  He  said,  "It  is  expedient  for  you 
that  I  go  away."  "Ye  now  therefore  have  sorrow:  but  I 
will  see  you  again,  and  your  heart  shall  rejoice,  and  your 
joy  no  man  taketh  from  you."  ^  The  abiding  joy  of  His 
Presence  in  the  Eucharist  is  His  great  gift  to  His  Church. 

"The  purpose  of  the  Incarnation  was  to  give  life  to  our 
weak  and  sinful  manhood,  to  provide  a  Humanity  which 
shall  be  life-giving,  not  merely  an  example,  but  an  instru- 
ment, of  perfect  life.  This  Humanity,  joined  to  the  Deity 
of  Christ  at  the  Incarnation,  was  perfected  in  glory  at  the 
Ascension.  The  Incarnation  brought  God  and  Man  into 
new  relations.  In  the  unity  of  the  Person  of  Christ  the 
Godhead  communicated  grace  and  life-giving  power  to  His 
Manhood.  Christ's  Humanity,  inseparably  linked  to  His 
Divine  Person,  became  life-giving.  It  was  not  the  Humanity 
in  and  by  itself,  however  perfect,  that  could  give  life,  for 
it  was  weak,  as  a  truly  created  thing.    But  linked  through 

"•  St  Joha  16:22. 


202  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

the  Incarnation  to  the  Divine  Person  of  Christ,  the  Sacred 
Humanity  acquired  Hfe-giving  powers.  Until  the  Ascension, 
those  hfe-giving  powers  of  Christ  were  restrained  within 
His  own  Sacred  Person.  The  Ascension,  by  glorifying  and 
spirituaHsing  the  powers  of  Christ's  Manhood,  made  His 
Humanity  the  perfect  means  of  giving  life  to  others.  The 
medium  through  which  He  *gave  gifts  to  men'  was  not  His 
Deity,  but  His  Manhood.  Christ,  by  taking  manhood  into 
Himself,  has  made  His  Sacred  Humanity  the  means  of  our 
restoration,  has  provided  a  Presence  self-limited,  definite, 
which  man  can  claim,  and  according  to  the  terms  of  His  own 
ordinance,  control  and  take  humbly  into  His  own  life,  as  the 
pledge  of  eternal  bliss.  This  real  presence  of  Christ's 
Sacred  Humanity  is  the  distinctive  gift  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  of  the  Altar." 

"This  Eucharistic  Presence  is  the  Presence  of  Christ's 
glorified  Humanity.  It  is  the  fruit  of  the  Ascension.  There  is 
no  dead  Christ.  The  only  Humanity  of  Christ  is  the  living 
and  glorified  Humanity.  There  is,  there  can  be,  no  other. 
The  glory  of  the  Altar  is  indeed  the  Presence  of  Christ's 
sacred  and  glorified  Humanity,  the  Presence,  spiritual  and 
true,  of  the  real  Body  and  Blood  of  our  Saviour,  the  truly 
created  and  glorified  Humanity  of  our  Lord,  an  actual, 
objective,  supernatural,  sacramental  Presence,  the  mode  of 
which  transcends  our  understanding,  the  certainty  of  which 
is  guaranteed  by  the  obedience  of  the  Church  to  the  institu- 
tion of  Christ."  » 

St.  Paul,  who  was  called  to  be  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles, 
was  given  a  special  revelation  from  the  Lord  Jesus  in  regard 
to  this  Sacrament,  he  told  the  Corinthian  Christians  in 
rebuking  them  for  their  behavior  and  failure  to  "discern 
the  Lord's  Body"  in  it.  In  partaking  of  it  as  an  ordinary 
meal,  he  said  they  were  guilty  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Christ.    "Let  a  man  examine  himself,  and  so  let  him  eat  of 

•  The  Woadrous  Passion. — F.   W.  Drake. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  203 

that  bread,  and  drink  of  that  cup.  For  he  that  eateth  and 
drinketh  unworthily,  eateth  and  drinketh  condemnation  to 
himself,  not  discerning  the  Lord's  Body."  *  There  are  some 
who  say  the  Lord's  Body  and  Blood  in  the  Sacrament  are 
the  result  of  faith,  not  of  the  consecration  of  the  bread  and 
wine  by  a  priest.  St.  Paul  certainly  does  not  say  so.  These 
Corinthians  were  rebuked  for  their  lack  of  faith.  The  Body 
and  Blood  of  the  Lord  zuas  there,  and  they  did  not  discern 
it  and  reverence  it.  Bishop  Gore,  always  careful  in  his  use 
of  words,  says,  ''I  do  not  think  it  possible  to  exaggerate  the 
extent  to  which  the  early  Christians  believed  in  the  Real 
Presence  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ." 

This  doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence  of  the  living,  risen,  and 
glorified  Christ  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Altar  is  taught  us 
in  our  Catechism  and  in  the  service  of  the  Holy  Communion, 
nowhere  more  plainly  than  in  the  Prayer  of  Humble  Access 
written  and  added  to  the  service  at  the  Reformation.  In  it 
we  pray  "so  to  eat  the  flesh  of  Thy  dear  Son  Jesus  Christ, 
and  to  drink  His  Blood,  that  our  sinful  bodies  may  be  made 
clean  by  His  Body,  and  our  souls  washed  through  His  most 
precious  blood,  and  that  we  may  evermore  dwell  in  Him, 
and  He  in  us." 

Reverence  and  reserve  in  dealing  with  holy  things  was 
natural  to  the  Apostles,  trained  in  the  Jewish  religion  and 
ceremonial,  and  from  the  first  this  was  deeply  impressed  upon 
the  Christian  Church.  In  the  early  days  only  the  faithful 
were  permitted  to  be  present  at  the  celebration  of  the  Holy 
Mysteries,  or  to  know  "the  Secret  of  the  Lord."  This  en- 
abled the  heathen  to  circulate  all  kinds  of  strange  stories  to 
discredit  the  Christians.  They  were  accused  of  gross  im- 
moralities and  cannibalism  in  connection  with  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  Eucharist.  It  was  said  they  killed  a  child,  roasted 
and  ate  it.  On  account  of  this  Justin  Martyr  was  led  to 
break  the  Discipline  of  the  Secret,  and  in  A.  D.  148  wrote 

•I  Cor.  11:28-29. 


204  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

his  apology  to  the  Emperor  Antoninus  Pius,  "who  held 
the  lives  of  the  Christians  in  his  hand,"  giving  a  true 
account  of  the  Eucharist.  Excusing  himself  for  being 
obliged  to  do  this,  he  says,  "This  food  is  called  among 
us  the  Eucharist,  of  which  no  one  is  allowed  to  partake  but 
the  man  who  believes  that  the  things  which  we  teach  are  true, 
and  who  has  been  washed  with  the  washing  for  regeneration 
and  remission  of  sins,  and  who  is  living  as  Christ  enjoined.^" 
For,  not  as  common  bread  and  common  drink  do  we  receive 
these;  but  in  like  manner  as  Jesus  Christ,  our  Saviour, 
having  been  made  flesh  by  the  word  of  God,  had  both  flesh 
and  blood  for  our  salvation,  so  likewise  have  we  been  taught 
that  the  food  which  is  blessed  by  the  prayer  of  His  word, 
and  from  which  our  blood  and  flesh  by  transmutation  are 
nourished,  is  the  Flesh  and  Blood  of  that  Jesus  who  was 
made  flesh."  Tertullian,  writing  fifty-seven  years  later,  in 
his  Prescription  against  Heretics,  "casts  it  in  the  teeth  of 
sectaries  that  they  have  no  reserve.  'It  is  doubtful  who  is 
a  catechumen,  and  who  is  a  believer.  They  allow  access  to 
all  alike ;  all  hear  alike,  pray  alike.  That  which  is  holy  they 
cast  to  the  dogs,  and  their  pearls — though,  by  the  way,  they 
are  sham  ones — they  fling  to  the  swine.'  "  ^^ 

The  position  of  the  altar  in  every  Catholic  church  ex- 
presses the  honor  and  reverence  in  which  the  Sacrament  is 
held.  Not  only  has  the  altar  the  most  prominent  place,  but 
it  is  lifted  up  and  set  apart  to  protect  it  from  careless 
approach.  The  choir  or  rood  screen,  the  altar  rail,  in  the 
East  a  veil  or  curtain,  and  a  series  of  steps,  all  symbolize 
what  is  taught  by  St.  Paul  and  expressed  in  the  exhortation 
to  those  "w4io  mind  to  come  to  the  Holy  Communion."  The 
exhortation  is  now  rarely  read  in  full  excepting  before  the 
great  Festivals,  and  perhaps  this  makes  it  more  impressive, 
but  in  these  lax  days  we  need  its  warnings,  and  would  do 
well  to  read  it  carefully  from  time  to  time,  that  we  may  be 
reminded  what  the  Church  requires  of  those  who  come  to 
the  Holy  Communion.    Like  other  invitations  and  exhorta- 

10  Baptism  in  the  first  centuries  always  included  Confirmation. 
"  Quoted  in  "Our  laheritance." — S.  Baring-Gould. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  205 

tions  in  the  Communion  service,  it  is  addressed  to  those  who 
have  been  admitted  by  confirmation  to  the  privileges  of 
membership.  One  part  of  the  Prayer  Book  explains,  it  does 
not  contradict  another  part. 

The  exhortation  calls  attention  to  the  dignity  of  the 
Sacrament  "which  being  so  divine  and  comfortable  a  thing  to 
them  who  receive  it  worthily,  and  so  dangerous  to  those  who 
will  presume  to  receive  it  unworthily ;  my  duty  is  to  exhort 
you,  in  the  mean  season  to  consider  the  dignity  of  that  holy 
Mystery,  and  the  great  peril  of  the  unworthy  receiving  there- 
of ;  and  so  to  search  and  examine  your  own  consciences,  (and 
that  not  lightly,  and  after  the  manner  of  dissemiblers  with 
God;  but  so)  that  ye  may  come  holy  and  clean  to  such  a 
heavenly  Feast,  in  the  marriage-garment  required  by  God 
in  holy  Scripture,  and  be  received  as  worthy  partakers  of  that 
holy  Table."  That  this  is  not  meant  to  frighten  people 
away  is  plain  from  the  words  of  another  exhortation. 
"Wherefore,  most  dearly  beloved  in  Christ,  take  ye  good 
heed,  lest  ye,  withdrawing  yourselves  from  this  holy  Supper, 
provoke  God's  indignation  against  you.  *  *  *  if  ^ny 
man  say,  I  am  a  grievous  sinner,  and  therefore  I  am  afraid 
to  come :  wherefore  then  do  ye  not  repent  and  amend  ?  When 
God  calleth  you,  are  ye  not  ashamed  to  say  ye  will  not  come  ?" 
And  that  all  excuse  may  be  taken  from  such,  the  exhortation 
says,  "Because  it  is  requisite  that  no  man  should  come  to  the 
Holy  Communion  but  with  a  full  trust  in  God's  mercy,  and 
with  a  quiet  conscience ;  *  *  *  let  him  come  to  me,  or  to 
some  other  Minister  of  God's  Word,  and  open  his  grief ;  that 
he  may  receive  godly  counsel  and  advice,  as  may  tend  to  the 
quieting  of  his  conscience,  and  the  removing  of  all  scruple 
and  doubtfulness."  The  English  Prayer  Book  says,  "that  he 
may  receive  the  benefit  of  absolution,  together  with  ghostly 
counsel  and  advice."  Both  the  English  and  American 
Prayer  Books  counsel  confession  to  a  priest.  The  English 
Prayer  Book  makes  mention  of  the  benefit  of  absolution  as 
14 


206  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

one  of  the  reasons  for  such  a  confession.  The  American 
does  not  speak  of  this  but  of  course  does  not  exclude  it. 
The  priest  to  whom  the  person  troubled  in  conscience  goes 
for  help  will  certainly  "counsel  and  advise"  such  confession, 
in  order  that  the  penitent  may  have  this  personal  and  sacra- 
mental assurance  of  pardon. 

The  absolution  in  the  Communion  service  is  a  general 
absolution.  "Approach  to  God  is  always  such  a  solemn  and 
awful  thing,  that  whenever  and  however  we  approach  Him 
there  may  well  be  the  sprinkling  of  Absolution  applied  even 
to  those  who,  it  may  be,  have  just  made  a  private  and  solemn 
act  of  penitence  in  their  own  person. "^^  In  the  Roman  Mass 
there  is  a  general  confession  and  absolution,  very  like  that  in 
our  service,  to  be  said  for  those  who  are  about  to  make  their 
communions,  and  who  have  made  confession  to  a  priest 
and  received  sacramental  absolution.  It  is  evident  that  our 
Church  "supposes,  when  she  pronounces  her  Absolutions 
in  church,  that  she  has  done  so  over  people  who  are  already 
penitent,  and  who  are  already  forgiven ;  that  is  to  say, 
either  they  have  confessed  their  sins  to  God  in  the  quiet  of 
their  own  rooms,  with  contrition  and  deep  sorrow,  and  with 
full  purpose  of  amendment  of  life,  and  have  received  that 
pardon  which  He  knows  how  to  give ;  or  else  that  they  have 
confessed  them  to  God  in  the  same  way,  and  have  received 
Absolution  at  the  hands  of  His  priest.  Both  the  one  and  the 
other — vis.  he  who  is  satisfied  with  the  private  confession 
and  he  who  is  not  satisfied,  but  needs  the  special  confession — 
are  absolved  again  for  the  purpose  of  the  service ;  my  con- 
tention being  that  we  ought  to  insist  more  on  the  private 
preparation  with  its  accompanying  act  of  penitence,  whatever 
it  may  be ;  that  which  goes  on  in  what  the  Exhortation  calls 
'the  meantime,'  that  is,  before  we  come  to  the  service 
itself." '^'^     (Italics  mine). 

Reverence  for  this  Sacrament  was  very  marked  in  the 

ia.18  The  Holy  Kucharist.— W.  C.  E.  Newbolt, 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  207 

early  days  of  the  Protestant  sects,  fresh  from  Church  in- 
fluences. The  early  Baptists  and  Presbyterians  were  espe- 
cially careful  to  "fence  the  table,"  as  the  Scotch  called  it. 
They  were  very  particular  as  to  who  were  admitted  to  the 
Holy  Communion,  and  careful  in  their  preparation  for  it. 
"Communion  Sabbath"  in  Scotland  was  a  very  solemn  and 
important  day,  and  the  children  not  yet  communicants 
attended  the  service  with  their  parents.  Although  they 
regarded  the  bread  and  wine  as  mere  symbols,  they  believed 
that  in  fulfilling  the  Lord's  command  they  had  communion 
with  Him  in  a  special  manner,  and  by  faith  spiritually 
received  His  Body  and  Blood.  And  who  shall  say  such  do 
not?  Certainly  the  Church  does  not  say  so.  She  has  ever 
taught  the  reality  of  spiritual  communion.  Readers  of  "The 
Imitation"  will  recall  this. 

"In  Spiritual  Communion  we  receive  our  Lord  according 
to  our  own  powers  and  fitness,  according  to  our  own  measure 
of  correspondence  with  His  grace."  "In  Sacramental  Com- 
munion, on  the  other  hand,  we  receive  our  Lord  according  to 
His  own  fulness,  as  Pie  is  in  Himself,  according  to  His  own 
measure  of  love,  His  own  largess  of  beneficence.  His  own 
power  of  blessing,  irrespectively  of  our  own  imperfections  or 
narrowness  of  capacity."  ^*  The  use  we  make  of  the  Sacra- 
mental gift  of  course  depends  upon  ourselves;  that  is  why 
when  we  receive  Him  sacramentally  we  are  bidden  to  feed 
on  Him  in  our  hearts  by  faith,  with  thanksgiving.  Upon 
our  preparation  to  receive  the  gift,  and  our  care  of  it  after 
we  have  received  it,  depends  the  value  of  our  Communions 
to  us. 

The  invitation  in  the  Communion  service  is  not  to  the 
whole  congregation,  but  to  those  "who  mind  to  come  to  the 
holy  Communion,"  those  who  have  fulfilled  the  require- 
ments for  Communion  laid  down  by  the  Church,  and  come 
to  the  service  prepared  and  intending  to  receive  the  Sacra- 

"  The  Holy  Eucharist.— T.  T.  Carter. 


208  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

ment.  It  is  shocking  and  distressing  to  see  people  make 
their  Communions  who  have  made  no  preparation  and  had 
no  idea  of  making  a  Communion  when  they  came  to  Church, 
and  some  of  whom  until  the  offertory  had  not  made  up  their 
minds  to  ''stay."  Frequently  these  do  not  stay  for  the  bless- 
ing. One  has  seen  people  m.ake  their  Communions  as  if  they 
were  going  to  a  lunch  counter,  and  walk  right  out  of  church 
as  soon  as  they  have  received ;  never  a  thanksgiving  or  act  of 
praise,  and  not  waiting  to  receive  the  Eucharistic  blessing. 
What  would  St.  Paul  say  of  such  communicants? 

If  they  sin  in  ignorance,  we  may  pray  they  may  be  for- 
given, for  they  know  not  that  they  are  guilty  of  the  Body 
and  Blood  of  Christ.  But  what  of  the  Stewards  of  the 
Mysteries,  the  Guardians  of  the  Treasure,  who  do  not  teach, 
and  who  even  tear  down  the  fences  erected  by  the  Church 
to  protect  the  Altar  and  the  communicants,  giving  promis- 
cuous invitations  to  those  present  to  receive  the  Holy  Com- 
munion ? 

There  are  three  things  very  clearly  and  emphatically  told 
us  in  these  exhortations.  First,  if  we  neglect  the  Holy 
Communion  we  dishonor  God  and  imperil  our  souls.  Second, 
if  we  come  without  the  preparation  of  self-examination, 
repentance,  faith,  love  and  thanksgiving,  we  may  eat  and 
drink  condemnation  instead  of  blessing  to  ourselves.  Third, 
the  Holy  Communion  is  not  a  reward  of  merit  for  the 
righteous,  but  the  Bread  of  Life  for  the  weak  and  sinful. 
The  only  reason  any  one  can  honestly  give  for  not  coming 
regularly  to  the  Holy  Communion  is  that  he  does  not  want  to 
come,  that  he  does  not  believe,  or  that  he  does  not  want  to 
repent  and  prepare  himself. 

Writers  on  the  spiritual  life  say  that  most  ill-prepared 
communions  are  due  to  irregularity,  not  having  fixed  times 
for  communions,  and  that  half  of  the  ineffective  commun- 
ions are  due  to  failure  in  thanksgiving,  after  the  service 
and  during  the  following  week.     The   Catechism  tells  us 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  209 

our  preparation  should  consist  in  repentance,  faith  and 
thanksgiving.  Repentance  is  only  the  beginning.  We  must 
have  "a  lively  faith,"  an  active,  vigorous  faith  that 
reaches  out  to  embrace  the  gift,  and  a  thankful  heart 
to  receive  it.  Many  conscientious  communicants  fail 
to  realize  the  joy  of  Communion  because  most  of  their  prepa- 
ration is  taken  up  with  thinking  about  themselves,  while 
most  of  it  should  be  taken  up  with  thinking  about  God  and 
the  coming  of  the  Lord  to  them  in  the  Sacrament.  When 
we  go  to  church  to  receive  it,  this  should  be  the  one  thought 
as  we  kneel  in  happy,  quiet  oblation  and  expectation,  quiet 
in  mind  and  body,  in  the  freshness  of  the  early  morning  and 
the  hush  of  "the  low  Mass,"  and  think  of  Him  as  He  comes 
to  us  in  great  humility. ^^ 

This  wondrous  Sacrament  is  the  extension  of  the  Incar- 
nation and  the  Atonement — it  perpetuates  Bethlehem  and 
Calvary — and  it  unites  us  with  the  heavenly  oblation  and 
worship.  It  is  the  meeting  place  of  Heaven  and  Earth. 
Time,  space,  and  even  death  are  no  more  as  we  kneel  in 
penitent  humility  to  receive  this  gift.  In  this  supreme 
moment  we  have  fellowship  one  with  another,  with  our 
blessed  dead,  and  with  that  great  multitude  which  no  man 
could  number,  who,  here  and  beyond,  are  serving  God  in 
spirit  and  in  truth. 

"From  every  stormy  wind  that  blows, 
From  every  swelling  tide  of  woes, 
There  is  a  calm,  a  sure  retreat; 
'Tis  found  beneath  the  mercy-seat. 

"There  is  a  place  where  Jesus  sheds 
The  oil  of  gladness  on  our  heads, 
A  place  than  all  beside  more  sweet ; 
It  is  the  blood-stained  mercy-seat. 

"  At  the  early  service  the  custom  lias  coine  of  kneeh'ng  ti.roughout  the  whole 
service,  excei)t  during  the  Creed  and  Gospel,  to  avoid  consunt  movement  and 
cultivate  stillness  and  simplicity,  as  a  help  to  devotion.  But  individual  feeling 
will  decide  this. 


210  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

"There  is  a  spot  where  spirits  blend, 
Where  friend  holds  fellowship  with  friend; 
Though  sundered  far,  by  faith  they  meet 
Around  one  common  mercy-seat. 

"There,  there,  on  eagles'  wings  we  soar, 
And  time  and  sense  seem  all  no  more; 
And  heaven  comes  down,  our  souls  to  greet, 
And  glory  crowns  the  mercy-seat." 

But  the  Holy  Communion  is  food  for  the  body  as  well 
as  the  soul.  When  the  priest  gives  us  our  Communion  he 
says,  "The  Body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  was  given 
for  thee,  preserve  thy  body  and  soul  unto  everlasting  life," 
and  we  pray  "that  our  sinful  bodies  may  be  made  clean  by 
His  Body."  From  the  very  earliest  days  fasting  has  been 
the  preparation  of  the  body  for  the  receiving  of  this  Holy 
Sacrament,  and  the  homage  it  renders  the  Lord's  Body. 
St.  Augustine  says,  "In  honour  of  so  great  a  Sacrament  the 
body  of  the  Lord  should  enter  the  mouth  of  a  Christian 
before  any  other  food ;  for  this  is  the  reason  why  the  custom 
is  observed  throughout  the  whole  world."  And  after  quoting 
St.  Paul's  words  in  I  Corinthians  XI,  20,  34,  St.  Augtistine 
goes  on,  "Whence  we  are  given  to  understand"  "that  the 
Apostle  himself  set  in  order  the  observance  in  which  no 
diversity  of  custom  is  found."  ^^  As  in  everything  we  do  for 
God,  we  receive  in  return  far  more  than  we  give. 

Those  who  have  visited  the  great  spas  in  Europe  will  recall 
how  early  in  the  morning  the  place  was  alive  with  people 
walking  to  a  distant  mineral  spring  to  drink  its  life-giving 
waters,  it  being  essential  they  be  taken  as  the  first  food  of 
the  day.  And  when  one  sees  communicants  in  large  num- 
bers making  their  Communions  comfortably  at  midday,  with 
well-filled  minds  and  bodies,  one  cannot  but  feel  "for  this 
cause  many  are  weak  and  sickly  among  us,  and  many  sleep." 
Among  the  crowd  at  the  spa  one  has  known  some,  and  no 
doubt  there  were  many,  who  had  always  been  too  lazy  or 

"  The  Holy  Communion.— Darvell  Stc»c. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  211 

been  considered  too  delicate  to  go  out  before  breakfast  to 
an  early  service ;  yet,  "whosoever  drinketh  of  this  water  shall 
thirst  again :  but  whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall 
give  him  shall  never  thirst,"  says  our  Lord.  "For  my  flesh 
is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed." 

In  the  Church  of  Rome  the  Pope  only  can  grant  dispen- 
sations from  the  fast  before  Communion,  and  while  such 
dispensations  are  not  common  as  are  dispensations  from  the 
Friday  fast,  they  are  not  infrequently  granted  in  cases  of 
real  necessity,  especially  to  the  clergy  who  are  getting  old, 
or  who  must  take  journeys  to  celebrate  in  distant  parishes, 
or  for  some  other  good  reason.  The  writer  recalls,  when  in 
Rome  some  years  ago,  reading  in  a  newspaper  a  notice  of 
the  granting  of  such  dispensations  to  several  of  the  older 
Cardinals,  and  the  statement  was  made  that  the  Pope,  Leo 
XIII,  would  not  dispense  himself.  Such  a  dispensation  does 
not  permit  a  meal  but  only  some  light  food  taken  in  the 
privacy  of  one's  own  room.  "This  is  a  matter,"  says  Fr. 
Puller,  "in  which  a  man  should  not  dispense  himself."  The 
rule  of  course  does  not  apply  to  those  who  are  dying,  or 
near  death,  as  in  the  case  of  men  going  to  battle. 

"Those  who  do  not  recognize  any  authority  of  the  Uni- 
versal Church  cannot  be  expected  to  see  that  this  rule  is 
binding  upon  them ;  but  *  *  *  those  who  do  acknowledge 
the  authority  of  the  Universal  Church  must  be  prepared  to 
take  this  rule  with  the  rest.  Certainly  it  would  be  unbecoming 
in  any  to  make  a  point  of  the  Anglican  appeal  to  primitive 
antiquity  and  to  ignore  the  teaching  of  primitive  antiquity 
in  a  matter  of  this  kind."  " 

Whether  the  Eucharist  was  instituted  before  or  after  mid- 
night we  do  not  know.  In  any  case  it  was,  for  the  Apostles, 
the  beginning  of  a  new  day,  as  the  Jewish  day  began  after 
sundown;  and  from  the  very  first  it  was  celebrated  in  the 
morning,  that  is,  after  midnight,  and  usually  very  early.  For 

*^  The  Holy  Communion. — Darwell  Stone. 


212  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

a  time  in  some  places,  on  fast  days  it  was  deferred  until 
afternoon,  to  prolong  the  fast,  and  a  celebration  was  held  on 
the  evening  of  Maundy  Thursday.  But  whatever  the  hour, 
the  Communion  was  always  received  fasting,  that  is,  no 
food  or  drink  was  taken  after  midnight  of  the  previous  day. 
Before  long  these  afternoon  and  evening  celebrations  were 
given  up,  even  on  Maundy  Thursday ;  and  celebrations  in 
the  morning,  that  is,  after  midnight  and  before  midday, 
became  the  universal  rule  of  the  Church.  Afternoon  and 
evening  Communions  are  now  absolutely  unauthorized  and 
in  every  way  undesirable.  The  Passover,  always  eaten  fast- 
ing, was  the  rite  of  the  passing  day  and  an  evening  meal ; 
the  Eucharist  is  the  new  rite  of  the  new  day,  and  the  Catho- 
lic Church  has  ever  faced  East  in  her  worship,  looking  for 
the  coming  of  the  Lord. 

Several  years  ago  one  of  our  clergy,  while  recovering  from 
an  illness,  was  staying  in  a  southern  town  where  the  church 
had  been  closed  for  some  months.  The  people  were  anxious 
for  a  service,  and  asked  the  priest  if  he  would  give  them  one. 
He  explained  that  he  was  not  strong  enough  to  preach  or 
have  a  long  service,  but  said  he  would  be  glad  to  have  a 
Communion  service  Sunday  morning  at  eight  o'clock.  There 
had  never  been  such  a  service  in  the  place,  but  it  was  agreed 
to,  and  the  next  Sunday  the  church  was  filled  with  devout 
communicants.  Afterwards  many  expressed  their  enjoy- 
ment of  the  service.  They  had  been  in  the  habit  of  making 
their  Communions  after  breakfast,  and  at  the  end  of  a  long 
service  with  a  sermon.  To  go,  fresh  from  one's  morning 
prayers,  with  no  distracting  work  or  talk  to  interrupt  that 
preparation,  to  a  simple,  quiet  service  with  no  sermon,  no 
badly  sung  music,  no  ill-chosen  hymns,  nothing  to  irritate  or 
fatigue,  this  was  indeed  a  revelation  of  what  Communion 
with  God  in  the  Sacrament  of  His  love  could  be. 

"Early  Communions  are  the  obvious  choice  of  the  devo- 
tional instinct.    They  embody  its  moral  and  its  sacramental 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  213 

significance,  they  necessitate  an  act  of  self-denial,  and  they 
secure  the  freshest  energies  of  the  soul  for  the  altar  of  God. 
When  no  word  has  yet  been  uttered  except  to  God,  when  no 
nourishment  has  yet  passed  the  lips,  when  the  first  self- 
dedication  of  the  waking  moment  still  echoes  through  the 
soul,  there  is  the  truest  welcome,  the  most  genuine  adoration, 
the  most  tender  and  soul-constraining  recognition  of  the 
King  of  Kings,  who  sets  up  His  throne  in  the  heart,  as  in 
the  world,  without  observation.  Only  let  the  soul  have  felt 
this  experimentally,  and  a  late  Communion  will  appear  to 
be  a  disadvantage." 

Canon  Liddon,  I  think  it  was,  said,  "The  early  Com- 
munion is  the  pulse  of  the  parish."  To  go  to  an  early  service 
means  effort  and  self-denial,  and  only  those  who  value  the 
Sacrament,  and,  therefore,  prepare  for  it,  will  make  this 
effort.  How  often  Jesus  comes  to  His  own,  and  His  own 
have  made  no  room  for  Him.^^ 

In  the  heyday  of  prosperity  men  may  argue  about  the 
Real  Presence,  but  "in  the  hour  of  death  and  in  the  Day  of 
Judgment"  it  is  the  only  thing  they  want.  We  had  abundant 
proof  of  that  during  the  war.  Men  knew  they  were  un- 
worthy, therefore  nothing  else  would  satisfy.  "Come  to 
Jesus,"  said  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Salvation  Army. 
"Where  is  He,  and  how  can  I  come?"  asked  the  soldier. 
"Believe  and  pray,"  they  answered.  "But  He  seems  so  far 
away ;  my  faith  is  weak  and  vague,  and  I  do  not  know  how 
to  pray,"  said  the  soldier.  "Come  to  Jesus,"  said  the  Catho- 
Hc  Church.  "He  is  here  amid  the  roar  of  the  guns  and  the 
smoke  of  battle ;  you  can  touch  Him ;  you  can  receive  Him 
in  all  His  power  in  the  Sacrament  of  His  ordaining.  Be  not 
afraid,  only  repent  and  believe ;  trust  Him,  give  yourself  to 
Him.  Come  to  Jesus."  And  men  came  in  thousands  and 
found  "grace  to  help  in  time  of  need." 

1*  Dr.  Morgan  Dix  used  to  say  that  confession  and  fasting  communion  were 
thiC  heart  of  the  Catholic  movement. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP 

THE  CHRISTIAN  SACRIFICE 

The  Eucharist  is  the  great  Christian  sacrifice,  as  a  reading 
of  the  prayer  of  consecration  will  show.  The  Catechism  also 
tells  us  the  Sacrament  was  ordained  "For  the  continual 
remembrance  of  the  death  of  Christ,  and  of  the  benefits 
which  we  receive  thereby" — two  things.  In  the  Holy 
Eucharist  we  do  show  before  God  "the  Lord's  death  till 
He  come."  This  is  very  beautifully  expressed  in  Canon 
B right's  well-known  hymn — 

"And  now,  O  Father,  mindful  of  the  love 

That  bought  us,  once  for  all,  on  Calvary's  Tree, 
And  having  with  us  Him  that  pleads  above, 

We  here  present,  we  here  spread  forth  to  Thee, 
That  only  offering  perfect  in  Thine  eyes, 
The  one  true,  pure,  immortal  sacrifice. 

"Look,  Father,  look  on  His  anointed  face, 

And  only  look  on  us  as  found  in  Him ; 
Look  not  on  our  misusings  of  Thy  grace. 

Our  prayer  so  languid,  and  our  faith  so  dim ; 
For  lo !  between  our  sins  and  their  reward, 
We  set  the  Passion  of  Thy  Son  our  Lord. 

"And  then  for  those,  our  dearest  and  our  best, 

By  this  prevailing  presence  we  appeal ; 
Oh,  fold  them  closer  to  Thy  mercy's  breast  1 

Oh,  do  Thine  utmost  for  their  souls'  true  weal ! 
From  tainting  mischief  keep  them  white  and  clear. 
And  crown  Thy  gifts  with  strength  to  persevere."  ^ 

Sacrifice  has  been  defined  to  mean  "the  act  of  offering 
or  presenting  an  oblation  before  Almighty  God,"  and  as  a 

1  This  hymn  is  frequently  sung  in  the  Communioa  service  after  the  Conse- 
cration, either  during  the  Communioii  of  the  people,  or,  in  Advent  and  Leat, 
in  place  of  the  Gloria  in  Bxcelsis, 

214 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  215 

means  of  approach  to  God  it  is  as  universal  as  religion.  A 
religion  that  did  not  make  the  offering  of  sacrifice  to  God 
the  centre  of  its  worship,  we  should  feel  was  not  of  God. 

It  seems  probable  that  man  offered  oblations  to  God  of 
the  fruits  of  the  earth  before  he  sinned,  but  the  bloody  sacri- 
fice was  the  acknowledgment  of  sin  and  the  need  of  redemp- 
tion, and  the  first  sacrifice  of  this  kind  it  would  seem  was 
offered  to  provide  clothing  to  cover  the  nakedness  and  shame 
of  the  sinner.  Cain's  sacrifice  was  an  oft'ering  of  self- 
will  and  without  acknowledgment  of  sin,  what  man  had 
offered  before  he  sinned,  and  God  w^ould  not  accept  it. 
Abel's  offering  was  accepted  because  it  was  the  offering  of 
obedience  and  penitence.  When  this  sin-offering  w^as  made, 
man  could  again  offer  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  as  we  see  in  the 
Jewish  Church ;  for  example,  in  the  Shew-Bread — more 
properly  the  bread  of  the  Face  or  the  Presence — and  the 
Minchah  the  meat  offering,  a  cake  of  fine  flour,  and  wine 
(the  drink-offering)  offered  with  incense.  The  Mincha  was 
the  ''pure  offering"  of  which  the  Prophet  Malachi  spoke 
when  in  prophesying  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom  he  said, 
"From  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  unto  the  going  down  of 
the  same  My  Name  shall  be  great  among  the  Gentiles ;  and 
in  every  place  incense  shall  be  offered  unto  My  Name,  and 
a  pure  oft'ering:  for  My  Name  shall  be  great  among  the 
heathen,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  The  ancient  Fathers  are 
unanimous  in  applying  this  prophecy  to  the  Eucharist. 

"The  continuity  of  nature  is  the  accepted  doctrine  of 
science ;  there  are  no  breaks,  or  leaps  or  sudden  beginnings  in 
nature.  Had,  then,  Christianity  started  suddenly  into  exist- 
ence, instead  of  being  the,  as  it  were,  natural  result  of  the 
working  of  a  long  succession  of  causes,  we  might  well  have 
looked  upon  it  with  some  suspicion,  and  doubted  whether  it 
could  have  come  from  the  hand  of  the  same  God  whose 
method  of  working  in  nature  we  have  recognized  as  one  of 
unbroken  continuity.     But  Christianity  did  not  appear  as  a 


216  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

new  revelation  about  eighteen  hundred  years  ago ;  it  may 
fairly  claim  to  be,  if  not  *as  old  as  creation/  yet  as  old  as  the 
Fall  of  man,  as  old  as  the  promise  of  Redemption." 

"That  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian  Churches  form  in 
reality  but  one  Church  of  God,  though  in  different  stages  of 
development,  is  very  generally  admitted.  Bishop  Words- 
worth, in  his  commentary  on  Zechariah,  says  distinctly,  'The 
Christian  Church  from  the  commencement,  is  the  only  legiti- 
mate continuation  'of  the  Israel  of  God.'  The  root  is  in  Zion, 
but  the  branches  overshadow  the  earth.'  *  *  *  Very 
similarly  he  speaks  in  his  Introduction  to  the  Book  of 
Leviticus :  'If  the  Christian  student  desires  to  have  a  clear 
view  of  the  various  phases,  and  divers  effects,  of  the  one 
Great  Sacrifice  offered  once  for  all  on  the  Cross ;  if  he  would 
comprehend  its  composite  universality,  and  analyze  its  dis- 
tinct offices  and  benefits ;  if  he  would  understand  the  spiritual 
organism  of  each  of  its  parts,  and  admire  the  harmonious 
symmetry  and  divine  fulness  of  the  whole ;  and  if  he  would 
rightly  apprehend  how  that  one  Sacrifice  is  continually  re- 
presented in  the  Christian  Church,  and  how  its  virtue  is  ever 
communicated  to  the  faithful  in  the  Holy  Eucharist,  He  will 
have  his  desires  fully  satisfied,  and  his  labours  amply  re- 
warded, in  reading  the  Book  of  Leviticus  by  the  light  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  with  the  help  of  those  expositions 
which  have  been  handed  down  from  the  primitive  times.'  "  ^ 

On  the  Cross  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  "made 
there  (by  His  one  oblation  of  Himself  once  offered)  a  full, 
perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice,  oblation,  and  satisfaction  for 
the  sins  of  the  whole  world."  That  sacrifice  can  never  be 
repeated,  but  in  heaven  our  great  High  Priest  continually 
re-presents  this  Sacrifice  to  the  Father,  and  we  here  on 
earth,  at  the  altars  of  the  Catholic  Church,  join  in  that  great 
offering  and  intercession.  It  is  one  sacrifice,  one  oblation; 
the  offering  on  Calvary,  the  offering  in  heaven  and  the 

"The  Worship  of  the  Old  Covenant— E.  F.  Willis. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  217 

offering    in   the   Eucharist — "our   sacrifice    of    praise   and 
thanksgiving." 

The  Eucharist  is  one  of  the  oldest  names  for  the  Sacra- 
ment. The  word  translated  ''thanksgiving"  in  the  Epistles 
frequently  means  the  service  of  the  Eucharist.  For  example, 
in  the  Epistle  to  St.  Timothy,  in  giving  his  directions  in 
regard  to  his  work,  St.  Paul  says,  "I  exhort  therefore,  that, 
first  of  all,  supplications,  prayers,  intercessions  and  giving 
of  thanks  (Eucharists),  be  made  for  all  men;  for  kings,  and 
for  all  that  are  in  authority ;  that  we  may  lead  a  quiet  and 
peaceable  life  in  all  godliness  and  honesty.  For  this  is  good 
and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God  and  our  Saviour."  ^ 

This  sacrifice  is  not  the  praise  and  thanksgiving  we  offer 
to  God  at  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Mysteries  as  well  as 
at  other  services ;  it  is  the  offering  of  the  risen  and  glorified 
Body  of  Christ,  and  with  it  ourselves,  our  souls  and  bodies, 
and  our  praise  and  thanksgiving.  "A  merely  spiritual  offer- 
ing, if  it  stood  alone,  would  miss  one  whole  purpose  of  the 
Incarnation — the  sanctification  of  the  material  universe  and 
the  body  of  man.  A  sacrifice  essentially  involves  two  parts 
— an  interior  disposition  and  an  exterior  gift.  Without  the 
first  the  sacrifice  is  ineffectual :  without  the  second  the  offer- 
ing is  not  a  sacrifice.  *  *  *  To  offer  the  interior  disposition 
alone,  the  praise  and  thanksgiving  without  any  exterior 
symbol,  would  not  be  to  offer  sacrifice.  To  offer  bread  and 
wine  alone  would  be  to  off'er  the  material  universe  without 
man.  To  offer  man  alone  in  his  sins  and  failure  would  be 
to  offer  an  unclean  and  imperfect  thing  which  God  could  not 
accept.  To  offer  Christ  alone  would  be  to  off'er  the  Head 
without  the  Body.  But  when  our  bread  and  wine  have  been 
caught  up  into  union  with  the  risen  and  ascended  Body  of 
Christ :  when  through  them  He  uplifts  us,  body  and  soul, 
into  union  with  Himself,  and  presents  us  to  the  Father,  then 

•I  Tim.  2:1-3. 


218  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

we  see  the  splendour  of  His  great  Redemption,  which  em- 
braces the  whole  universe  in  the  arms  of  God's  mercy." 

"There  is  another  aspect  of  the  Holy  Sacrifice.  The  Body 
of  Christ  is  not  merely  that  which  we  receive  in  the  Blessed 
Sacrament :  it  is  the  whole  Church,  living  and  departed. 
'Ye  are  the  body  of  Christ,  and  severally  members  thereof.' 
Each  one  of  us  'in  one  Spirit'  is  'baptized  into  one  Body' 
through  which  Christ  is  working  out  the  world's  redemp- 
tion. Each  in  his  place — in  mill  and  factory  and  workshop 
and  mine,  in  office  or  profession,  as  merchant,  doctor,  nurse, 
student,  teacher — labours  throughout  the  week  in  God's 
service,  as  a  member  of  Christ  through  whom  He  teaches 
and  acts  on  the  world.  On  the  Lord's  Day  we,  the  members 
of  the  Body,  meet  at  the  Lord's  service ;  each  brings  his  little 
contribution  of  love  and  labour  and  suffering  with  all  their 
manifold  imperfections  and  failures,  and  these  with  us  are 
caught  up  into  union  with  the  perfect  Sacrifice  of  Christ, 
and  Christ  our  High  Priest  offers  us  to  the  Father.  It  is  the 
offering  of  the  Church,  the  Body  of  Christ,  to  the  Father, 
in  which  the  work  of  the  past  week  in  prayer  and  interces- 
sion and  manifold  activities  is  cleansed  and  presented  to 
the  Father ;  and  in  which  we  are  again  purified  and  conse- 
crated afresh  to  His  service."  * 

The  Jewish  sacrifices  and  the  Temple  worship  ceased  with 
the  destruction  of  the  Temple.  They  were  "the  shadow  of 
good  things  to  come,"  "the  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  to 
Christ,"  and  in  the  Eucharist  this  sacrificial  worship  is  ful- 
filled, for  God  has  Himself  provided  the  Lamb  for  the  sac- 
rifice. "That  must  have  been  a  glorious  scene,  when  the 
congregation  (Israel)  stood  in  the  Temple  court  and  looked 
up  to  the  great  gates  of  the  Holy  Place,  and  saw  harpers, 
trumpeters,  and  singers  ranged  there,  with  the  incense 
steaming  out  from  behind  them  through  the  parted  curtains, 
and  before  them  the  altar  of  sacrifice  with  the  blood  stream- 

*The  Sacramental  Principle.— P.  B.  Bull,  C.   R. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  219 

ing  from  it.  Then  suddenly  with  a  loud  voice,  came  the 
call  to  thanksgiving  and  glory,  in  union  with  angels,  and 
cherubim,  and  seraphim,  and  with  a  clang  of  harps  and 
blare  of  silver  trumpets,  and  the  shout  of  a  great  multitude, 
priests  and  Levites,  robed  in  white,  there  rose  the  song — 

'Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  of  Hosts,  heaven  and  earth  are 
full  of  Thy  Glory.' " 

"And  there  is  deep  significance  in  the  change  as  shown  by 
St.  John.  The  altar  of  sacrifice,  identified  with  the  altar 
of  incense,  is  no  longer  without  in  the  court,  nor  the  golden 
altar  in  the  Holy  Place,  but  the  combined  altar  of  sacrifice 
and  incense  is  within  the  veil  in  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and 
there  around  it  are  the  white-robed  harpers,  and  incense 
bearers,  and  singers,  and  there,  on  it,  is  the  Lamb  that  had 
been  slain.  We  lose  wholly  the  significance  of  the  vision  of 
St.  John,  unless  we  first  picture  to  ourselves  the  scene  at 
the  morning  sacrifice  in  Jerusalem  below,  and  then  see  in 
what  points  the  service  differs,  as  revealed  in  the  Jerusalem 
which  is  above."  ^ 

Of  necessity,  the  worship  of  the  Primitive  Church,  while 
full  of  dignity  and  ceremonial,  was  poor  and  meagre  in  its 
appointments.  Splendor  was  impossible  under  the  circum- 
stances. But  if  we  turn  to  the  book  of  the  Revelation  of  St. 
John,  and  read  what  is  there  shown  us  of  the  worship  in 
Heaven,  we  shall  see  what  St.  John  looked  forward  to.  "We 
will  grant  that  what  is  told  us  is  symbolic ;  but  we  ask, — A 
symbol  being  taken  from  something  known,  to  illustrate  the 
unknown,  where  was  the  known  reality  from  which  this 
picture  was  taken  and  transferred  to  heavenly  things,  where, 
if  not  in  the  worship  of  the  Church  in  Apostolic  times?"® 
The  worship  of  the  Church  on  earth  is  reflected  and  ideal- 
ized in  heaven.  It  is  the  worship  St.  John  knew  in  his  own 
Church  at  Ephesus.  So  the  principle  of  worship  and  sac- 
rifice passed  on  from  the  Jewish   to   the  Christian  Church. 

•-*  Our  Inheritance. — S.  Baring-Gould. 


220  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

That  the  best  sacrifice  is  spiritual,  no  CathoHc,  Aiighcan, 
Greek  or  Roman  would  deny.  *'What  they  would  refuse  to 
admit  would  be  that  such  a  sacrifice  was  exclusive  of  sac- 
ramental oblation  and  worship." 

The  manner  of  celebrating  the  Holy  Mysteries,  as  might 
be  expected  of  men  trained  in  the  dignified,  reverent  and 
orderly  worship  of  the  Jewish  Temple,  was  a  matter  of  the 
first  importance  to  the  Primitive  Church,  and  so  it  has  ever 
been  in  the  Catholic  Church.  There  was  no  zvritten  Liturgy, 
or  authoritative  form  of  words  in  the  primitive  age,  "but 
that  there  was  a  general  structural  type,  seems  certain,  for 
that  remains  constant.  'Under  the  dictation  of  habit  and 
experience,'  says  Bishop  Lightfoot,  'these  prayers  were 
gradually  assuming  a  fixed  form.'  "  ^  Later  this  form  of 
words  was  consigned  to  writing,  and  we  have  the  Liturgies 
named  after  their  presumed  authors.  As  the  Church  grew 
and  received  into  it  men  and  women  of  different  nations 
and  habits  of  thought,  and  as  "views"  increased,  such  a 
fixed  form  was  most  important.  When  St.  Athanasius,  in 
his  defense  of  our  Lord's  divinity,  stood  out  against  the 
world,  not  only  the  heathen  world  but  the  bishops  and 
clergy,  and  even  the  Pope,  the  Church  in  spite  of  her  hereti- 
cal clergy  went  on  witnessing  to  the  Faith  in  the  unchanging 
Liturgy.  What  would  have  become  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land in  the  eighteenth  century  if  she  had  not  had  her  Catholic 
Prayer  Book?  This  fixed  form  is  also  the  great  protection 
of  the  laity.  The  "views"  of  the  officiating  priest  do  not 
affect  the  service. 

An  argument  for  variety  in  usage  is  sometimes  based  on 
the  fact  that  the  Church  of  Rome  admits  to  her  Communion 
congregations  of  baptized  and  confirmed  Eastern  Christians, 
micmbers  of  a  branch  of  the  Church  whose  Orders  and  Sac- 
raments she  recognizes,  and  allows  them  the  use  of  the 
Liturgy  and  customs  to  which  they  have  been  accustomed, 

^  Our  Inheritance. — S.   Baring-Gould. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  221 

and  which  include  married  priests,  Communion  in  both 
kinds,  and  the  use  of  leavened  bread  in  the  Eucharist. 
Would  she  receive  congregations  of  Protestants  with  no  such 
customs  and  training,  no  Orders  and  no  Catholic  Liturgy, 
and  allow  them  to  get  up  for  themselves  forms  of  service  for 
the  administration  of  the  Sacraments?  We  know  very  v/ell 
that  Rome  would  not  do  so,  and  would  say  the  case  was  quite 
different  from  that  of  the  Eastern  Christians.  If  congre- 
gations of  Eastern  Christians  ask  to  be  received  by  us  we 
might,  and  I  think  should,  receive  them  as  Rome  does;  but 
when  Protestant  congregations,  with  no  Catholic  inheritance, 
ask  to  be  received  by  us,  we  certainly  should  expect  them  to 
complete  their  baptism  with  confirmation,  as  required  by  the 
Catholic  Church  everywhere,  and  should  require  the  priests 
in  charge  of  these  congregations  to  use  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Sacraments  our  Prayer  Book  services.  Our 
Liturgy  is  the  Liturgy  of  the  English-speaking  peoples,  and 
we  are  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Rome's  experience  with  Eastern  Christians  is  one  that 
may  well  make  us  stop  and  think.  We  know  it  has  not 
made  for  harmony.  The  Irish  frequently  refuse  to  attend 
Mass  celebrated  by  a  Uniat  priest,  and  when  he  arrives,  with 
wife  and  children,  to  take  charge  of  a  parish,  there  is  apt 
to  be  a  riot,  and  he  will  be  lucky  if  he  is  not  stoned  or  shot. 
If  we  accepted  the  proposed  Congregational  concordat  we 
should  likely  have  ]Miss  Smith  leaving  her  parish  church  to 
worship  with  the  Reverend  Mr.  Jones'  congregation.  "Mr. 
Jones,  you  know,  is  so  interested  in  ancient  Liturgies.  He 
has  revived  many  ancient  rites  and  ceremonies,  and  has  a 
most  wonderful  Catholic  service,"  we  should  hear  Miss  Smith 
say.  Mr.  Brown  would  be  shocked  at  the  services  conducted 
by  the  Reverend  Mr.  Black,  and  would  not  attend  them ;  and 
although  Mr.  Black  had  received  Episcopal  ordination,  Mr. 
Brown  would  prefer  to  go  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which 
made  no  pretence  of  being  Catholic.  We  would  certainly 
15 


222  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

have  some  such  situations  under  the  proposed  concordat, 
and  discord  and  hurt  feelings,  not  unity.  We  cannot  heal 
the  wounds  in  the  Body  of  Christ  with  these  cheap  remedies. 

The  Eucharist  is  the  only  service  ordained  by  Christ,  and 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  we  read  that,  immediately  after 
Pentecost,  Christians  met  daily  from  house  to  house  for 
the  "breaking  of  bread,"  and  "did  eat  their  meat  with  glad- 
ness and  singleness  of  heart."  ®  On  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  the  Lord's  Day,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  special 
celebration  with  preaching,  which  all  Christians  were  ex- 
pected to  attend;  and  the  Sacrament  was  carried  to  those 
unable  to  get  to  the  service.  For  several  centuries  this  was 
the  only  service  on  the  Lord's  Day,  and  when  other  services 
were  developed  the  Eucharist  continued  the  service  of  obli- 
gation. "In  Apostolic  times  and  for  three  centuries  the  rule, 
the  privilege,  was  weekly  if  not  daily  communion." 

As  the  Church  grew  and  persecution  ceased,  the  love  of 
many  became  cold,  and  the  number  of  careless,  indifferent 
Christians  increased.  "As  the  Church  grew  in  geometrical 
progression,  in  like  inverse  proportion  decreased  the  number 
of  daily  and  even  of  weekly  communicants."  ^  Those  who 
continued  to  come  to  the  service  began  going  out  after  the 
sermon,  with  the  catechumens  and  excommunicate,  and  the 
Church  had  to  decide  what  action  to  take.  "The  Second 
Council  of  Antioch,  A.  D.  341,  ordered— 'All  who  attend 
God's  church,  and  hear  the  Holy  Scriptures,  but  who  do  not 
communicate  in  the  prayer  along  with  the  congregation,  or 
turn  away  from  the  Communion  of  the  Eucharist  in  any  dis- 
orderly way,  are  to  be  cast  out  of  the  Church,  until  having 
made  confession  and  shewn  fruits  of  repentance,  and  made 
entreaty,  they  may  be  able  to  receive  pardon.'  *  *  *  A  canon 
of  S.  Theodore  of  Tarsus,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  about 
668,  says  'When  the  people  come  to  celebrate  Mass  in  the 

•Acts  2:46, 

•  Our   Inheritance. — S.  Baring-Gould. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  223 

name  of  the  Lord,  they  may  not  depart  from  the  Church  till 
Mass  is  ended,  and  the  Deacon  cries :  'Ite,  missa  est.'  "  '^^ 

The  Church  at  first  seems  to  have  been  inclined  to  excom- 
municate all  who  did  not  communicate  every  Sunday,  but 
guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit  she  ruled  to  permit  her  members 
to  join  in  the  offering  of  the  Holy  Sacrifice  without  com- 
municating, making  this  attendance  at  the  Holy  Mysteries 
of  obligation  every  Lord's  Day,  and  requiring  them  to  make 
Communions  on  the  Great  Festivals — Christmas,  Easter  and 
Whitsunday.  In  the  Church  of  Rome  now  a  Communion  in 
the  Easter  Season  only  is  of  obligation. 

It  was  with  deep  sorrow  and  regret  that  the  Church  made 
this  rule  to  prevent  a  complete  falling  away,  but,  except  in 
periods  of  deadness,  she  never  failed  to  urge  upon  her  mem- 
bers frequent  Communions.  In  1902,  Pope  Leo  XIII  wrote : 
"History  bears  witness  that  the  virtues  of  the  Christian  life 
have  flourished  best  wherever  and  whenever  the  frequent 
reception  of  the  Eucharist  has  most  prevailed.  And  on  the 
other  hand  it  is  no  less  certain  that  in  days  when  men  have 
ceased  to  care  for  this  heavenly  bread,  and  have  lost  their 
appetite  for  it,  the  practice  of  the  Christian  religion  has 
gradually  lost  its  force  and  vigor."  ^^  As  will  be  seen,  the 
habitual  separation  of  the  offering  of  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
from  the  feeding  on  that  Sacrifice  in  the  Holy  Communion 
is  deprecated  by  the  Roman  as  well  as  by  the  Anglican 
Church.  It  is  only  in  Christ  we  can  offer  Christ.  The  non- 
communicating  attendance  at  the  Holy  Mysteries  of  habitual 
non-communicants  is  one  thing.  The  non-communicating 
attendance  of  regular  communicants  is  quite  another. 

In  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  great  efforts 
were  made  both  in  the  Church  of  Rome  and  in  the  Church 
of  England  to  increase  the  frequency  of  Communions ;  and 
readers  of  John  Inglesant  will  recall  the  efforts  of  Molinos 

1°  Our  Inheritance. — S.  Baring-Gould. 

"  The  Holy  Communion. — Darwell  Stone. 


224  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

and  his  followers  to  induce  the  Pope  to  permit  Communions 
to  be  made  without  confession  to  a  priest  before  each  Com- 
munion, and  to  make  such  confession  obligatory  only  at  cer- 
tain times.  In  spite  of  the  great  increase  of  Communions  in 
some  places  in  the  Roman  Church,  m.any  Roman  Catholics 
admit  the  requirement  of  confession  before  each  Communion 
is  the  great  obstable  to  frequent  Communion,  especially 
among  men.  Rome,  however,  has  never  been  w^illing  to  give 
up  an  instrument  that  is  so  valuable  to  her  in  maintaining 
her  political  as  well  as  her  spiritual  power. 

"Until  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  it  appears  to  have 
been  the  rule  in  some  places  that  the  Eucharist  might  not  be 
celebrated  more  than  once  on  one  day  in  the  same  church. 
About  445  S.  Leo  the  Great,  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  wrote  to 
Dioscorus  the  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  pointing  out  that  on 
some  days  the  observance  of  this  rule  might  prevent  some  of 
the  people  from  offering  the  sacrifice,  and  urging  him  to 
bring  the  usage  of  the  Church  at  Alexandria  in  this  matter 
into  conformity  with  the  custom  of  the  Church  at  Rome,  by 
which  the  sacrifice  w^as  offered  in  the  same  Church  on  one 
day  as  often  as  there  was  a  congregation  to  fill  the  Church,"^- 

"From  the  saying  of  Masses  for  special  purposes  and  the 
repetition  for  the  convenience  of  the  congregation  was 
developed  the  ordinary  method  of  the  West  in  the  INIiddle 
Ages."  ^^ 

The  ancient  Liturgies,  too,  were  long  and  elaborate — 
the  Oriental  was  accustomed  to  long  services  and  fasts — 
but  as  the  Church  became  Western  these  things  were  found 
burdensome.  They  did  not  suit  the  Western  climate,  tem- 
perament and  habit  of  life.  So  the  Church  in  the  West,  while 
adhering  to  the  framework  or  structure  of  the  Ancient  Litur- 
gies, began  curtailment.     To-day  every  Communion  service 

12  It  will  be  noted  Poiie  Leo  the  Great,  as  Bishop  of  Rome,  makes  a  sugges- 
tion and  request  to  another  Bishop.  He  does  not  claim  the  right  to  give  him 
an  order. 

*3  The  Holy  Communion. — Darwell  Stone. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  225 

in  the  Catholic  Church  has  the  same  organic  structure ;  "but 
there  is  a  small  difference  in  the  distribution  of  parts  owing 
to  different  methods  of  curtailment,  and  to  the  distribution 
of  the  parts  curtailed."  ^* 

The  Catholic  Church  is  the  Church  of  the  Living  God,  not 
a  dead  organization  but  a  living  organism  adapting  herself 
to  different  ages,  and  absorbing  into  herself  dift'erent  races 
and  culture.  "So  again,  in  that  social  product,  the  Liturgy. 
Like  a  net  cast  into  the  sea,  it  gathers  of  every  kind,  and 
has  won  its  compelling  beauty  through  the  age-long  opera- 
tion of  social  forces  which  have  been  wider  than  any  indi- 
vidual genius,  and  have  united  to  create  a  whole  which  could 
not  be  the  work  of  a  single  man  or  even  of  one  generation. 
In  the  ritual,  and  the  order,  and  every  accompaniment  Vv'hich 
has  the  consecration  of  time  and  thereby  enables  us  to  wor- 
ship more  deeply,  we  possess  a  home  of  the  spirit  in  which 
the  soul  can  take  her  rest.  It  envelops  us  like  an  atmos- 
phere, although  in  all  our  use  of  it  we  should  guard  against 
a  spirit  merely  antiquarian.  *  *  *  The  Church  is  the  Church 
of  all  the  ages,  not  of  any  one  of  them;  and  we,  the  heirs, 
must  not  only  use,  but  also  develop,  what  we  inherit."  ^^ 

We  shall,  therefore,  expect  to  find  dift'erent  practices  and 
customs  as  the  Faith  once  delivered  expresses  itself  in  dift'er- 
ent  races  and  in  dift'erent  ages.  Sometimes  these  practices 
degenerate  into  superstitions,  or  are  contrary  to  the  Faith, 
and  need  to  be  uprooted.  Such  were  many  of  the  practices 
and  devotions  in  the  Middle  Ages  and  even  to-day  in  the 
Church  of  Rome.  Then  there  are  practices  that  are  plainly 
contrary  to  Holy  Scripture  and  the  teaching  of  the  Church, 
such  as  withholding  the  cup  from  all  but  the  celebrant  at 
the  Mass.  This  practice  has  not  received  "general  consent," 
and  is  not  a  development  but  a  contradiction  of  our  Lord's 
own  command.     General,  or  Catholic  consent,  is  the  voice 

'*  Our   Inheritance. — S.    Baring-Gould. 

1*  The  Fellowship  of  the  Mystery.— J.   N.  Figgis,  C.    R. 


226  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

of  the  Catholic  Church.  Even  the  decisions  of  an  Ecumeni- 
cal Council  were  not  "de  fide"  until  they  were  accepted  by 
the  whole  Body  after  the  Council  closed  and  the  bishops 
and  clergy  went  home  to  report  its  decisions.  Again,  there 
are  practices  not  known  in  the  Primitive  Church  that  are 
the  development  of  a  Catholic  dogma,  and  have  received 
"Catholic  consent" — such  is  the  practice  of  non-communi- 
cating attendance  at  the  Eucharist ;  and  there  are  practices 
that  seem  a  legitimate  development  of  a  Catholic  dogma, 
that  have  not  received  as  yet  general  consent — such  is  the 
practice  of  reservation  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  for  the  pur- 
pose of  adoration  and  intercession. 

From  the  first  the  Sacrament  of  the  Altar  has  been  re- 
served for  the  purpose  of  Communion,  and  in  the  East  this 
is  the  only  use  that  has  ever  been  made  of  the  reserved  Sac- 
rament ;  no  light  burns  before  it  and  no  reverence  is  shown 
it.  In  the  Church  of  Rome  to-day  it  is  used  as  a  centre  of 
prayer  as  well  as  for  Communion.  There  seems  no  evidence 
that  the  former  practice  was  known  in  the  first  thousand 
years  of  the  Church's  life,  but  from  the  twelfth  century  on 
there  are  indications  of  the  growing  practice  in  the  West. 
It  does  not  seem,  however,  to  have, been  common  until  after 
the  Reformation.  Here  we  have  a  practice  that  cannot  claim 
Catholic  consent,  that  is  not  essential  to  the  development 
of  sanctity,  for  the  great  virile  Saints  of  the  Church  knew 
nothing  of  it,  but  that  seems  to  be  a  legitimate  and  helpful 
development  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence.  For  us, 
the  lawfulness  of  its  use,  one  cannot  but  think,  depends  upon 
the  consent  of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese.  A  bishop  who 
required  the  Sacrament  reserved  for  communion  to  be  kept 
where  it  was  inaccessible  to  the  people,  would  seem  to  be 
acting  quite  within  his  rights,  and  the  every-day  Christian 
untrained  in  sophistries  could  not  see  on  what  ground  a 
priest  could  disobey  such  an  order — and  to  obey  is  better 
than  sacrifice.    Exposition,  the  service  of  Benediction,  and, 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  227 

what  seems  to  many,  the  irreverence  of  the  monstrance, 
are  on  a  different  footing.* 

We  have  heard  of  the  help  and  comfort  the  reserved  Sac- 
rament has  been  to  EngHsh  Church  people  during  the  war, 
and  in  these  troublous  days  of  our  modern  life  we  need  to 
use  every  legitimate  means  that  enables  men  and  women  to 
realize  the  nearness  of  God,  and  helps  them  to  pray  to  Him, 
The  writer  agrees  with  those  who,  while  in  no  sense  regard- 
ing this  practice  essential,  and  deploring  the  lawlessness  and 
disobedience  to  lawful  authority  that  have  characterized 
many  who  advocate  it,  earnestly  hopes  the  General  Conven- 
tion will  definitely  sanction  the  reservation  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  in  a  secluded  chapel  or  altar  and  merely  forbid 
exposition.  The  fear  that  non-communicating  attendance 
will  be  substituted  for  Communion,  and  that  "Visits"  to  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  will  take  the  place  of  attendance  at  the 
offering  of  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  it  not  justified  by  experience. 

Receiving  the  Holy  Communion  every  Sunday  and  holy 
day  at  least,  is  the  ideal  and  standard  the  Church  sets  before 
every  communicant,  but  it  would  not  be  wise  for  young 
communicants  to  begin  with  this.  The  effort  would  be  too 
great,  and  they  would  receive  more  than  they  could  assimi- 
late. Communicants,  however,  who  never  get  beyond  Com- 
munions once  a  month,  with  which  they  began,  are  not  only 
not  advancing  in  their  spiritual  life  but  are  deteriorating. 

As  celebrations  of  the  Eucharist  multiplied,  to  avoid  a  long 
fast,  unadvisable  for  many  and  impossible  for  some  no 
matter  what  the  hour  of  service.  Communions  began  to  be 
made  at  the  short  service  without  music  early  in  the  day, 
and  this  has  so  commended  itself  to  the  devout  instinct  that 
the  practice  has  taken  deep  root  among  us. 

On  the  Lord's  Day  this  quiet,  intimate,  personal  Com- 
munion bursts  into  a  great  corporate  act  of  praise  and 
thanksgiving  in  a  choral  Eucharist.     "All  experience  must 

*  The  Eastern   Church  and  the  great  Anglican  Theologians  so  regard   it. 


228  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

be  at  least  individual  experience ;  but  unless  it  is  also  social 
experience,  and  unless  the  whole  religious  community  which 
is  in  question  unites  to  share  it,  this  experience  is  but  as 
sounding  brass,  and  as  a  tinkling  cymbal."^®  The  Eucharist  is 
a  great  social  act,  whether  the  offering  be  a  plain  or  a  solemn 
celebration.  It  is  also  an  individual  experience,  and  the 
latter  is  especially  emphasized  when  we  make  our  Com- 
munions. The  priest  then  says  to  each  communicant,  **The 
Body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  was  given  for  thee, 
preserve  thy  body  and  soul  unto  everlasting  life."  It  is  an 
individual  gift,  an  individual  Communion,  and  we  need  to 
reahze  this  deeply.  The  Choral  Eucharist,  when  we  go  not 
to  get  but  to  give,  emphasizes  the  social  and  corporate  experi- 
ence. The  confession  then  is  made  a  corporate  act  of  peni- 
tence and  confession  for  the  sins  of  the  Body ;  the  thanks- 
givings, corporate  thanksgiving  for  all  God's  gifts  and 
blessings,  especially  Communions — ''the  m.eans  of  grace  and 
the  hope  of  glory" ;  the  intercessions  are  corporate  inter- 
cessions for  the  Body ;  and  the  praise  and  worship  our  part 
as  a  congregation  and  parish  in  the  unceasing  worship  of 
the  Body. 

"Let  saints  on  earth  in  concert  sing 
With  those  whose  work  is  done ; 
For  all  the  servants  of  our  King 
In  heaven  and  earth  are  one." 

The  Eucharist  is  "the  most  easily  intelligible  because  the 
most  dramatic  of  all  services,"  when  it  is  celebrated  without 
the  break  and  the  distraction  of  many  communicants  in  the 
middle  of  the  service.  It  is  only  at  a  service  with  simple 
music  and  good  congregational  hymns,  with  no  communi- 
cants, or  only  two  or  three,  that  we  can  ever  realize  its 
meaning  as  a  corporate  act  of  worship,  and  make  it  a  popular 
service. 

"The  Church  and  the   sacraments  are  social  and  com- 

"  Royce  quoted  in  The  Fellowship  of  the  Mystery. — J.  N.  Figgis,  C.   R. 


PRIVILEGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  229 

munal.  It  may  indeed  be  doubted  whether  even  those  who 
hold  high  sacramental  doctrine  do  not  in  some  cases  rather 
over-emphasise  its  individual  side,  as  a  gift  to  each  per- 
sonally ;  and  the  discontinuance  in  so  many  churches  of  the 
Eucharist  as  the  great  corporate  act  of  praise  has  rather 
tended  to  em.phasise  this  view.  It  is  only  as  we  see  this 
restored  as  a  social,  not  merely  individual  act,  the  praise  of 
God  in  all  its  splendour,  that  we  are  likely  to  correct  an 
evil  so  widespread."  ^^ 

The  offering  of  our  selves,  our  souls  and  bodies,  our  pray- 
ers and  our  praises,  all  center  in  the  one  perfect  sacrifice 
which  we  offer  and  present  to  the  Father.  "At  every  Eu- 
charist the  Church  stands  at  the  altar  as  the  High  Priest  of 
God's  creation,  and,  gathering  up  every  rich  splendour  of 
colour  and  sound,  the  gold  and  the  jewels,  the  lights  and  the 
incense,  the  flowers  and  the  bread  and  wine,  she  offers  them 
all  to  God  in  union  with  the  sacrifice  of  His  dear  Son.  At 
every  Eucharist  the  dumb  inarticulate  groaning  of  creatiori 
bursts  forth  into  a  song  of  praise.  The  altar  is  the  burning 
bush,  aflame  with  God,  who  embraces  all  creation  in  Hi> 
redemptive  love."  ^® 

It  was  as  "the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sins 
of  the  world"  that  the  Baptist  hailed  the  Son  of  ]\Iary  at  the 
Jordan  as  He  came  to  offer  Himself  to  God  to  fulfill  all 
righteousness.  "And  Him  hath  God  the  Father  sealed,"^" 
He  told  the  Jews  at  Capernaum.  As  the  Lamb  of  God  He 
was  rejected  and  crucified  by  the  world  that  could  not  force 
Him  to  be  its  King  on  its  terms.  As  the  Lamb  of  God  He 
reigns  in  heaven,  the  object  of  adoring  worship  by  the  whole 
company  of  heaven.  As  the  Lamb  of  God  one  day  He  will 
burst  through  the  clouds  and  the  sacramental  veils,  to  judge 
the  world. 

"The  Gospel  and  Human  Needs. — J.  N.  Figgis,  C.  R. 

'«The  Sacramental  Principle.— P  E.  Bull,  C.   R. 

^*  The  lambs  for  the  Jewish  sacrifice  were  inspected  by  the  priests,  and  ii 
they  were  without  spot  or  blemish,  they  were  stamped  with  the  official  bcb) 
to  mark  approval  and  acceptance. 


230  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

"And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  great  men,  and  the 
rich  men,  and  the  chief  captains,  and  the  mighty  men,  and 
every  bondman,  and  every  free  man,  hid  themselves  in  the 
dens  and  in  the  rocks  of  the  mountains ;  and  said  to  the 
mountains  and  rocks.  Fall  on  us,  and  hide  us  from  the  face 
of  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of 
the  Lamb:  for  the  great  day  of  his  wrath  is  come;  and 
who  shall  be  able  to  stand  ?"  ^^ 

"After  this  I  beheld,  and,  lo,  a  great  multitude,  which  no 
man  could  number,  of  all  nations,  and  kindreds,  and  people, 
and  tongues,  stood  before  the  throne,  and  before  the  Lamb, 
clothed  with  white  robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands ;  and 
cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying.  Salvation  to  our  God  which 
sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb.  And  all  the 
angels  stood  round  about  the  throne,  and  about  the  elders 
and  the  four  living  creatures,  and  fell  before  the  throne  on 
their  faces,  and  worshipped  God,  Saying,  Amen :  Blessing, 
and  glory,  and  wisdom,  and  thanksgiving,  and  honour,  and 
power,  and  might,  be  unto  our  God  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen. 
And  one  of  the  elders  answered,  saying  unto  me,  What  are 
these  which  are  arrayed  in  white  robes?  and  whence  came 
they?  And  I  said  unto  him.  Sir,  thou  knowest.  And  he 
said  to  me.  These  are  they  which  came  out  of  great  tribu- 
lation, and  have  washed  their  robes,  and  made  them  white 
in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  Therefore  are  they  before  the 
throne  of  God,  and  serve  him  day  and  night  in  his  temple: 
and  he  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  shall  dwell  among  them. 
They  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any  more ;  neither 
shall  the  sun  light  on  them,  nor  any  heat.  For  the  Lamb 
which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  shall  feed  them,  and  shall 
lead  them  unto  living  fountains  of  waters:  and  God  shall 
wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes."  ^^ 

Until  that  "Great  Day,"  from  the  altars  of  the  Catholic 

»  Rev.  6:15-17. 
»  Rev.  7:9-17, 


PRIVII.EGES  OF  MEMBERSHIP  231 

Church  when  the  priest  offers  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  and  the 
faithful  worship  and  adore,  uniting  their  intercession  with 
His  great  Intercession,  and  showing  forth  His  death  "till  He 
come,"  there  goes  up  the  cry : 

"O  Lamb  of  God,  that  takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world : 

have  mercy  upon  us. 
O  Lamb  of  God,  that  takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world : 

have  mercy  upon  us. 
O  Lamb  of  God,  that  takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world : 

grant  us  Thy  peace." 


CALLED  TO  BE  SAINTS 

This  is  the  Christian  vocation,  this  is  our  high  calHng,  and 
this  is  the  call  of  the  Lord,  not  to  the  self-righteous  but  to 
sinners.  Some  one  has  described  saints  as  "sinners  who 
kept  on  trying,"  and  if  we  would  make  our  calling  and  elec- 
tion sure,  we  must  pray  constantly  to  God  to  crown  His 
gifts  with  strength  to  persevere. 

We  need  the  perseverance  of  the  Saints,  and  we  need  also 
their  vision.  Why  is  the  level  of  Christian  life  so  low? 
Why  are  Christians  just  like  worldly  people?  Is  it  not 
because  they  do  not  realize  the  high  calling  of  their  baptism, 
have  forgotten  they  are  called  to  be  saints  and  are  signed 
with  the  cross  ?  We  all  want  to  be  "inheritors  of  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven,"  but  we  do  not  want  to  bear  the  cross  which 
our  Lord  declares  to  be  the  only  way  to  heaven.  The  boy 
Lillo,  in  George  Eliot's  famous  novel,  expresses  the  feelings 
of  youth  when  he  says  to  Romola,  "I  should  like  to  be  some- 
thing that  would  make  me  a  great  man,  and  very  happy 
besides — something  that  would  not  hinder  me  from  having 
a  great  deal  of  pleasure."  "That  is  not  so  easy,  my  Lillo. 
It  is  only  a  poor  sort  of  happiness  that  could  ever  come 
by  caring  very  much  about  our  ov/n  narrow  pleasures.  We 
can  only  have  the  highest  happiness,  such  as  goes  along  with 
being  a  great  man,  by  having  wide  thoughts,  and  much  feel- 
ing for  the  rest  of  the  world  as  well  as  ourselves ;  and  this 
sort  of  happiness  often  brings  so  much  pain  with  it,  that  we 
can  only  tell  it  from  pain  by  its  being  what  we  would  choose 
before  everything  else,  because  our  souls  see  it  is  good. 
There  are  so  many  things  wrong  and  difficult  in  the  world, 

232 


CALLED  TO  BE  SAINTS  233 

that  no  man  can  be  great — he  can  hardly  keep  himself  from 
wickedness — unless  he  gives  up  thinking  much  about  pleas- 
ure or  rewards,  and  gets  strength  to  endure  what  is  hard  and 
painful.  *  *  *  There  was  a  man  to  whom  I  was  very  near, 
that  I  could  see  a  great  deal  of  his  life,  who  made  almost 
every  one  fond  of  him,  for  he  was  young,  and  clever,  and 
beautiful,  and  his  manners  to  all  were  gentle  and  kind.  I 
believe,  when  I  first  knew  him,  he  never  thought  of  anything 
cruel  or  base.  But  because  lie  tried  to  slip  away  from  every- 
thing that  was  unpleasant,  and  cared  for  nothing  else  so 
much  as  his  own  safety,  he  came  at  last  to  commit  some  of 
the  basest  deeds — such  as  make  men  infamous.  He  denied 
his  father,  and  left  him  to  misery ;  he  betrayed  every  trust 
that  was  reposed  in  him,  that  he  might  keep  himself  safe  and 
get  rich  and  prosperous.  Yet  calamity  overtook  him." 
Have  we  not  seen  this  ?  Lives  lived  solely  for  pleasure  and 
slipping  out  of  everything  hard  and  unpleasant,  ending  in 
disaster  or  blase  before  middle  life? 

The  cross  is  the  condition  of  the  crown  of  success.  In 
any  profession  or  line  of  work,  there  must  be  self-limitation, 
self-denial,  self-control  to  succeed.  It  is  the  same  in  mar- 
riage and  in  family  life.  Here  love  is  the  motive,  but  it  is 
the  cross  nevertheless.  When,  therefore,  Jesus  bids  us  take 
up  His  cross,  and  follow  Him  daily  if  we  would  be  His 
disciples,  and  promises  us  happiness,  peace,  and  rest  for  our 
souls  here,  true  self-development  and  eternal  bliss  with  Him 
in  His  eternal  kingdom,  He  is  not  asking  any  new  thing, 
anything  contrary  to  our  experience.  The  question  is.  Do 
we  think  it  worth  while  to  follow  Him  ?  Will  we  choose  to 
bear  His  cross  or  bear  the  cross  the  world  offers  us  as  a 
condition  of  success? 

It  was  into  a  world  like  ours,  war  weary,  blase  with 
pleasure  and  luxury,  reeking  with  poverty  and  injustice, 
seeking  rest  and  finding  none,  and  looking  for  a  deliverer, 
that  our  Lord  came  and  offered  men  happiness.    The  laws 


234  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

of  His  kingdom  which  He  gave  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  the  Gospel  for  All  Saints'  Day,  He  proclaimed  to  be 
the  laws  of  happiness.  They  are  not  attractive  and  they  go 
contrary  to  our  nature ;  but  those  who  have  believed  on  Jesus 
have  accepted  them  and  have  found  the  happiness  He 
promised. 

The  Christian  life  is  a  life  of  faith;  a  life  therefore  of 
venture  and  adventure.  If  we  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  we  will  trust  Him  and  follow  Him.  If  we  do  not 
believe  He  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life,  we  will  not 
follow  Him.  I  suppose  most  of  the  Christians  who  give 
little  or  no  thought  to  God,  who  go  rarely  to  church,  who 
say  prayers  very  irregularly,  and  never  pray,  who  think  of 
pleasing  themselves,  not  of  pleasing  God  in  what  they  do, 
and  who  spend  their  time  and  their  money  for  themselves, 
and  even  those  who  disregard  His  laws  in  marriage  and 
other  things,  would  say  they  believe  in  God  and  "expect  to 
get  to  heaven."  "God  would  not  send  us  to  hell;  He  is 
too  kind.  Is  He  not  our  Father?"  they  say.  They  look 
upon  God  as  a  good-natured  potentate  who  will  decide  men's 
fate  at  the  Day  of  Judgment,  or  when  they  die,  as  He 
pleases.  Like  all  that  goes  with  it,  this  is  of  the  devil,  the 
Father  of  Lies. 

When  God  created  man  and  gave  him  free  will,  the  power 
of  choice  and  of  self-determination,  God  Hmited  Himself. 
He  cannot  save  man  against  his  will.  When  man  chose  evil, 
and  perverted  and  poisoned  his  nature,  God  provided  the 
remedy  and  showed  the  way  of  salvation,  the  way  of  humil- 
ity, of  penitence  and  of  obedience.  He  told  men  the  truth 
about  themselves  and  about  God,  and  He  lived  the  truth ; 
and  from  His  sacred  veins  and  wounded  side  He  offers 
men  new  life.  No  matter  how  vile  they  are,  or  how  often 
they  sin,  if  they  repent,  obey,  and  use  the  means  He  has  pro- 
vided in  the  Sacraments,  they  will  be  saved — not  saved  from 
pain,  not  taken  down  from  the  cross,  but  their  cross  made 


CALLED  TO  BE  SAINTS  235 

the  means  of  sanctification  and  salvation.  A  physician 
can  only  tell  a  man  how  he  can  be  cured  and  offer  him 
the  remedy.  If  the  man  will  not  believe,  accept  and  obey, 
he  cannot  be  saved.  God  "desireth  not  the  death  of  a  sinner, 
but  rather  that  he  may  turn  from  his  wickedness  and  live." 

Let  us  face  facts.  We  can  only  "get  to  heaven"  through 
much  tribulation,  by  following  Jesus  in  the  royal  road  of 
the  cross.  In  baptism  we  were  called  to  this  warfare.  What 
kind  of  soldiers  are  we?  Would  the  battles  of  the  Marne 
and  the  Argonne  have  been  won  with  soldiers  such  as  we 
are?  And  what  was  it  made  our  boys  endure  months  of 
dull  drill  and  discipline,  and  then,  leaving  home,  business,  and 
loved  ones,  go  overseas  to  face  death  and  worse?  Was  it 
not  the  call  of  the  country?  Yes,  and  something  more — 
it  was  the  call  of  an  ideal,  the  call  of  righteousness,  the  call 
of  the  Lord.  And  it  was  "for  the  joy  that  was  set  before 
them"  that  they  and  our  AUies  "endured  the  cross"  and  won 
the  war.  It  was  this  joy  and  this  vision  that  enabled  them  to 
endure. 

The  call  of  the  Lord  is  indeed  the  call  to  take  up  the  cross, 
but  it  is  the  call  to  take  it  up  for  an  ideal,  "and  holiness  con- 
sists not  in  doing  uncommon  things  but  in  doing  common 
things  in  an  uncommon  way."  ^  For  the  joy  that  was  set 
before  Him — the  joy  of  glorifying  His  Father,  doing  His 
will,  putting  His  enemies  under  His  feet  and  redeeming 
His  people — our  Lord  endured  the  cross. 

The  first  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love  and  the  next  is  joy. 
You  cannot  have  love  and  not  have  joy ;  but  there  is  no  joy 
for  those  who  try  to  serve  two  masters,  and  who  give  God 
a  half-hearted  service.  It  is  the  life  of  love,  the  life  of  full 
surrender,  that  brings  joy.  "Half-hearted  Christians,"  says 
Fr.  Figgis,  "have  the  pains  of  both,  and  the  joys  of  neither 
party.  Unfortunately,  the  standard  of  spectators  is  largely 
made  by  such.     But  to  the  free  observer  it  is  clear  this  is 

IE.  B.  Puscy. 


236  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

wrong;  you  cannot  judge  any  system  by  its  lukewarm  disci- 
ples. What  you  need  is  to  measure  it  by  men  to  whom  it 
is  the  breath  of  life."  - 

That  many  people  think  the  Christian  life  is  dull  and  color- 
less is  our  fault.  The  Bible  shows  it  as  a  life  of  joy.  It  is 
wonderful  how  much  St.  Paul,  for  example,  has  to  say  about 
the  joy  and  the  light-heartedness  of  the  Christian  life.  It 
was  the  characteristic  in  the  early  Christians  most  noted  by 
pagans.  "They  ate  their  bread  with  gladness  and  singleness 
of  heart" ;  and  sang  their  hymns  to  God  in  prison.  Their 
joy  was  unconquerable.  Time,  change  and  chance  cannot 
kill  the  joy  of  those  whose  hearts  are  fixed  "where  true  joys 
are  to  be  found."  It  grows  brighter  and  brighter  as  it  nears 
the  end  of  this  troubled  life  and  looks  towards  the  break 
of  the  new  day. 

How  pitiable  and  how  ugly  is  old  age  clinging  to  the  things 
of  youth,  and  clutching  at  the  things  of  this  world,  trying  to 
find  happiness  in  what  can  never  satisfy  an  immortal  soul 
made  for  God.    Verily,  they  have  their  reward. 

And  how  beautiful  is  old  age  the  sum  total  of  a  disciplined 
life,  a  life  of  unseliishness,  and  of  union  with  God ;  whose 
full  development  and  reward  are  not  here.  Serene,  joyous, 
keenly  interested  in  all  real  things  in  this  world,  but  sitting 
lightly,  only  "tarrying,"  waiting  for  the  summons  "to  be  with 
Christ,  which  is  far  better." 

Members  of  Christ — Children  of  God — Inheritors  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven.  May  we  know  the  joy  of  His  presence 
here,  and  look  ever  on  to  the  fullness  of  that  joy  "at  His 
right  hand  where  there  are  pleasures  forevermore." 

"Blessed  cit}^  heavenly  Salem, 

Vision  dear  of  peace  and  love, 
Who  of  living  stones  art  builded 

In  the  height  of  heaven  above, 
And,  with  angel  hosts  encircledf 

As  a  bride  dost  earthward  move. 

•  Antichrist  and  Othei-  Sermons. — J.  N.  Figgis,  C.  R. 


CALLED  TO  BE  SAINTS  237 

"From  celestial  realms  descending, 

Bridal  glory  round  thee  shed, 
Meet  for  Him  Whose  love  espoused  thee, 

To  thy  Lord  shalt  thou  be  led; 
All  thy  streets,  and  all  thy  bulwarks 

Of  pure  gold  are  fashioned. 

"Bright  thy  gates  of  pearl  are  shining, 

They  are  open  evermore; 
And  by  virtue  of  His  merits 

Thither  faithful  souls  do  soar, 
Who  for  Christ's  dear  Name,  in  this  world 
Pain  and  tribulation  bore. 

"Many  a  blow  and  biting  sculpture 

Polished  well  those  stones  elect, 
In  their  places  now  compacted 

By  the  heavenly  Architect, 
Who  therewith  hath  willed  forever 
That  His  palace  should  be  decked. 

"Laud  and  honor  to  the  Father, 
Laud  and  honor  to  the  Son, 
Laud  and  honor  to  the  Spirit, 

Ever  Three,  and  ever  One, 
Consubstantial,  Co-eternal, 
While  unending  ages  run."  * 

•Translated  by  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Neale. 


16 


WHITHER? 

I  came  from  God.  I  was  made  for  God.  I  go  to  God. 
Do  I  realize  this? 

Am  I  just  drifting,  or  am  I  striving  to  reach  a  goal? 
What  is  it? 

What  is  the  purpose  of  my  life?  Is  it  to  please  God  or 
to  please  myself? 

I  was  put  here  to  spend  a  few  years  to  prepare  for  eternity. 
Do  I  think  of  this? 

God  has  given  me  the  power  of  choice.  I  alone  can  deter- 
mine what  my  life  and  my  place  shall  be  in  eternity.  Every 
day  I  am  making  the  choice.    What  is  it  ? 

Am  I  giving  to  God,  who  has  given  so  much  to  me,  gener- 
ously of  my  time,  my  money  and  my  talents  ?  All  I  am  and 
all  I  have  belong  to  God.  Do  I  remember  this  ?  What  am  I 
doing  and  giving  to  help  the  Church — Missions — my  Diocese 
— my  Parish? 

What  am  I  doing  to  make  others  happier  and  better  in  my 
home,  my  city  and  my  country? 

What  sacrifices  am  I  making  that  I  may  give  to  God? 
I  cannot  serve  God  and  the  world,  and  will  only  be  unhappy 
if  I  try.  I  cannot  spend  all  my  time,  thought  and  money  on 
myself  and  be  a  true  Christian.  I  cannot  get  to  heaven  but 
by  loving  and  serving  God,  and  bearing  the  Cross  for  His 
sake.  I  had  better  face  facts  and  decide  which  Master  I 
will  serve;  which  reward  I  will  seek. 

DAILY  SELF-EXAMINATION 

Pray  for  the  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit  before  beginning  a 
self-examination. 

What  have  I  done  for  God  to-day  ? 

238 


THE  GREEN  BOOK  239 

How  much  of  my  time  have  I  given  Him  in  prayer,  read- 
ing, thought  and  service  ? 

How  have  I  spent  my  money?  Waste  and  extravagance 
are  robbing  God.    Have  I  remembered  this? 

Have  I  done  anything  to  make  any  one  happier  or  better 
to-day  ? 

Have  I  kept  my  rule  ? 

What  have  I  left  undone  that  I  know  I  ought  to  have 
done? 

What  have  I  done  that  I  ought  not  to  have  done,  in 
thought  word  or  deed? 

How  often  have  I  given  way  to  my  besetting  sin? 

RULE  OF  LIFE 

Pray  to  God  every  morning  and  evening,  kneeling  rever- 
ently and  praying  with  mind  and  will.  At  noon  and  during 
the  day  lift  up  your  heart  to  God  and  speak  to  Him. 

Give  minutes  every  day  to  reading  the  Bible. 

Make  a  short  self-examination  every  evening. 

Go  to  Church  every  Sunday  morning.  If  possible  be 
present  at  a  celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion. 

Make   a    communion   on    the   Sundays    of   each 

month ;  prepare  for  them  carefully  and  say  a  thanksgiving 
before  leaving  the  Church  after  communion  and  during 
the  week  following. 

Give  regularly,  systematically  and  generously  time  and 
money  to  the  support  of  the  Parish,  the  Diocese  and  to  the 
missionary  work  of  the  Church ;  to  the  poor  and  to  such 
charitable  organizations  as  have  a  claim  upon  you. 

Keep  the  feasts  and  fasts  of  the  Church.  There  should 
be  a  special  rule  for  Lent. 


APPENDIX 


FATHER  FIGGIS  ON  REVELATION 

"Dominated  by  sonorous  commonplaces  about  irrevocable  law  and 
iron  uniformity,  most  of  us  find  or  did  find  grave  difficulty  to 
faith  in  the  miraculous.  All  the  alleged  instances  we  strive  to 
reduce  into  conformity  with  natural  order.  It  is  with  reluctance 
that  we  admit  any  as  actual,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  we  know  that 
the  idea  is  bound  up  with  a  special  revelation  of  what  otherwise  man 
could  not  know. 

It  is  true  that  the  difficulty  lies  deeper.  Miracles  are  but  the 
expression  of  God's  freedom;  the  truth  that  He  is  above  and  not 
merely  within  the  order  of  nature.  Disbelief  in  them  really  leads 
on  to  pantheism.  Displaying  this  truth  of  God's  liberty  and  per- 
sonality they  arouse  no  deeper  speculative  difficulties  than  does 
the  common  daily  fact  of  human  free-will — perhaps  even  less. 
No  reasoning  has  solved  that  problem  or  reconciled  the  deliverance 
of  consciousness  with  a  belief  in  the  uniformity  of  nature,  if  that 
belief  be  extended  into  an  entire  philosophy  of  things.  On  the 
other  hand,  no  determinism,  'hard  or  soft,'  can  be  reconciled 
with  the  psychology  of  repentance,  or  with  our  sense  of  personal 
activity,  for  this  view  postulates  the  many,  the  other  absorbs  every- 
thing into  the  one.  If  we  have  once  surmounted  the  cardinal  crux 
of  human  freedom,  there  is  no  real  ground  for  boggling  over 
miracles. 

But  with  the  increasing  pressure  of  this  notion  of  iron  law,  there 
is  an  increasing  sense  of  the  need  of  a  power  above  it.  Instead  of 
being  a  drag  upon  faith,  the  miraculous,  or  the  idea  of  revelation, 
or  whatever  you  choose  to  call  it,  is  once  more  beginning  to  be  a 
pillar  of  it.  Without  it  we  cannot  consistently  retain  the  notion 
of  freedom,  which  is  essential  to  our  moral  life.  Miracles  were 
easy  of  credit  in  days  when  personal  agency  was  detected  through- 
out nature,  and  the  physical  world  was  not  conceived  as  an  orderly 
whole.    Belief  was  easy  then,  but  it  was  also  superfluous;  for  the 

240 


APPENDIX  241 

miracle  was  simply  a  fact,  like  any  other  fact  of  daily  life,  and 
conveyed  none  but  a  particular  lesson.  Nowadays  the  belief  is  not 
easy,  but  it  is  essential;  unless  we  are  to  be  deprived  of  all  faith  in 
our  own  spiritual  being,  and  driven  to  view  the  world  as  a  vast 
system,  which  may  perhaps  be  a  living  whole,  but  without  any 
place  for  personalities,  and  with  our  own  loves  and  fears,  our  sin 
or  sanctity  mere  illusions,  a  sort  of  phosphorescent  by-product  of 
the  outer  world.  The  iron  law  of  physical  sequences  is  always  with 
us;  the  pressure  of  the  world,  environment,  heredity,  is  patent  and 
appalling;  what  is  a  mere  theory  to  the  student  is  the  most  constant 
and  oppressive  of  facts  to  the  plain  man.  It  is  just  this  very  thing 
he  wants  to  escape  from.  It  is  only  a  miracle,  revelation,  that  can 
assure  him  that  behind  all  this  network  of  material  forces  there 
is  a  living  will;  while  God  manifest  in  Christ  displays  that  will 
as  Love.  That  is  all  he  wants.  That  gives  him  a  refuge,  a  home 
for  the  soul,  whose  deepest  emotion  and  noblest  desires  may  now 
be  satisfied.  Just  as  a  man  of  business  or  toil  needs  a  home  with 
all  its  pieties,  if  his  higher  nature  is  not  to  be  starved,  so  man 
'who  goeth  forth  to  his  work  and  to  his  labour  until  the  evening' 
and  is  ever  confronted  by  natural  law,  demands  the  assurance  of 
spiritual  freedom,  of  the  living  reality  of  Love  and  Peace.  Such 
an  assurance  is  not  now  possible  if  there  be  no  revelation  which 
may  prevent  all  his  highest  thought  from  'fading  into  the  light  of 
common  day,'  and  being  withered  by  the  chill  of  rigid  natural 
forces.  Miracles,  in  fact,  give  men  just  that  thrill,  that  sense 
of  exhilaration  and  freedom  which  all  of  us  experience  in  any 
conspicuous  act  of  heroism.  Colonel  Picquart  apparently  ruining 
his  career  to  defend  Dreyfus ;  a  schoolboy  saving  another  from 
drowning,  have  the  same  lesson.  They  show  that  man  is  7tot  the 
slave  of  circumstance.  Here,  we  say,  is  an  act  which  breaks  the 
chain  of  environment,  which  rises  above  the  outward,  and  uplifts 
us  with  a  sense  of  our  own  freedom — to  go  and  do  likewise.  This 
is  its  appeal.  So  with  revelation." — The  Gospel  and  Human 
Needs. — /.  N.  Figgis,  C.  R. 


FATHER  FIGGIS  ON  MYSTERY 

"Taking  the  religious  sense  as  a  given  fact,  are  we  right  in  sup- 
posing that  a  religion  without  mystery  would  satisfy  its  needs?  Are 
not  those  very  mysteries,  which  are  most  repugnant  to  the  ration- 
alist, the  very  elements  which  make  the  faith  so  great?    I  take  one 


242  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

instance — the  cardinal  one — the  Eucharist.  Believe  it  or  not,  you 
cannot  deny  that  no  other  rite  has  gathered  round  it  such  tender- 
ness of  devotion,  or  stimulated  so  deeply  man's  sense  of  God's 
nearness  and  love;  nor  will  it  be  disputed  that  here  is  mystery 
enshrined  in  the  actual  and  the  concrete — not  far  off,  but  in  the 
daily  life.  For  this  reason  the  Eucharist  is  inevitably  the  first 
object  of  dislike  to  the  rationalistic  temper,  and  offends  men  who 
will  accept  other  and  less  immediate  mysteries.  Yet  Europe,  since 
Wyclif,  affords  ample  evidence  that  where  this  mystery  is  ignored 
or  denied,  religious  life — except  for  spurts  of  individual  piety  and 
mysticism — becomes  chill  and  commonplace,  and  in  time  the  other 
supernatural  aspects  are  also  seen  to  vanish,  as  in  Germany  and 
Geneva. 

Does  it  not  then  appear  a  rash  undertaking  to  reconstitute  the 
Christian  Church  by  excising  all  its  most  wonderful  elements?  Are 
not  the  accomplished  and  respectable  persons  who  preach  the 
crusade  a  little  muddle-headed,  if  we  may  be  pardoned  the  word? 
Is  not  even  an  eminent  man  like  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  making  a 
blunder,  and  mistaking  futile  concessions  to  an  implacable  foe  for 
defence  of  that  religion  which  he  loves  so  dearly?  The  aim  is  to 
strengthen  the  ark  of  the  Church;  the  danger  is  (as  Carlyle  once 
said  of  a  similar  effort)  that  we  are  boring  holes  in  the  bottom. 
Truly  it  would  be  pitiful,  if  while  we  are  overthrowing  the  cargo 
to  lighten  the  ship,  we  should  lose  the  rudder  too,  and  drive  it 
on  the  rocks.  Before  we  turn  the  house  of  our  God  into  a  glorified 
Polytechnic  Institute,  it  were  well  to  pause  and  ask  ourselves 
whether  the  age-long  instincts  of  humanity  are  to  go  for  nothing; 
whether  the  love  and  devotion  which  gather  round  the  Cross  have 
not  some  deeper   root  than   stupidity  or   fear. 

I  think  there  is  such  a  root;  it  lies  far  down,  and  ineradicable 
within  us.  It  is  man's  own  consciousness  that  is  the  abiding 
home  of  mystery,  and  offers  resistless  front  to  all  the  thrust  of 
dialectical  attack.  Dominated  by  the  daily  pressure  of  the  out- 
ward, or  by  the  intellectualist  fantasy,  we  forget  to  ask  ourselves 
what  is  most  vital.  Is  not  the  reality  of  life  to  us  all,  neither 
sense  nor  intellectual  process,  but  that  dark  inner  world — that 
twilight  of  reflection — in  which  we  grope  and  wonder  from  day 
to  day,  fighting  with  devils  whose  name  is  legion,  whose  bewil- 
dered gloom  is  lit  by  strange  lights  of  love  and  pain,  and  trans- 
forms itself  a  hundred  times  an  hour?  Love  and  pain  and  death, 
but  above  all  things  chance  and  choice  are  present  for  us  all; 
they   are  the   most   real   things   in   life;    'divine   anarchists,*   they 


APPENDIX  243 

baffle  all  efforts  to  sum  the  series  of  being,  and  defy  prediction. 
These  are  the  things  we  really  know,  and  all  else  is  secondary 
and  subordinate,  or  partial  and  abstract.  It  is  in  the  'abysmal 
depths  of  personality'  that  we  find  the  final  and  fatal  foe  of  mere 
intellectualism." — The  Gospel  and  Human  Needs. — /.  N.  Figgis, 
C.R. 


THE    BEGINNING    OF   THE    METHODISTS 

When  the  Rev.  John  Wesley,  a  priest  of  the  Church  of  England, 
started  a  revival  in  the  Church,  it  was  with  no  idea  of  leaving  it. 
The  Wesleyans,  as  they  were  called,  were  merely  an  organization 
in  the  church.  There  are  many  persons  living  in  England  to-day 
who  remember  that  in  their  youth  the  Wesleyans  came  to  the 
Church  of  England  for  their  sacraments,  and  it  was  due  to  the 
deadness  of  the  Church  at  that  time  that  this  body  ever  separated 
from  the  Church.  The  Rev.  John  Wesley,  when  eighty-two  years 
old,  and  feeble,  laid  his  hands  on  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coke,  another  priest 
of  the  Church  of  England.  This  act  took  place  secretly,  in  Mr. 
Wesley's  bed-chamber.  When  his  brother,  the  Rev.  Charles  Wesley, 
the  author  of  'Jesus,  Lover  of  My  Soul,'  and  other  well  known 
hymns,  heard  of  this  ceremony,  he  heartily  disapproved  of  it,  and 
wrote  the  following  epigram : 

"  'So  easily  are  bishops  made 
By  man's  or  woman's  whim ; 
Wesley  his  hands  on  Coke  hath  laid, 
But  who  laid  hands  on  him?" 

"This  witty  sally  contained  the  pith  of  the  whole  matter,  and 
the  crucial  defect  in  the  procedure  soon  became  apparent,  even 
to  John  Wesley's  mind.  At  first,  the  name  which  Coke  and 
Asbury  assumed  was,  according  to  Wesley's  directions.  Superin- 
tendent. At  length,  they  took  that  of  Bishop,  whose  functions  they 
presumed  to  discharge.  Then  it  was  that  Wesley  wrote  to  Asbury 
in  these  terms :  'You  and  the  Doctor  differ  from  me.  I  study 
to  be  little ;  you  study  to  be  great.  I  creep ;  you  strut  along.  .  .  . 
How  can  you,  how  dare  you  suffer  yourself  to  be  called  Bishop? 
I  shudder,  I  start  at  the  very  thought  1  Men  may  call  me  a  knave 
or  a  fool,  a  rascal,  a  scoundrel,  and  I  am  content ;  but  they  shall 
never  by  my  consent  call   me   Bishop.    For  my   sake,    for   God's 


244  THE  GREEN  BOOK 

sake,  for  Christ's  sake  put  a  full  end  to  thisl  Let  the  Presby- 
terians do  what  they  please,  but  let  Methodists  know  their  calling 
better.*  No  wonder  that  Asbury,  on  reading  this  rebuke,  remarked, 
'Unpleasant  expressions.' " — History  of  the  Church  in  America. — 
height  on  Coleman. 


BISHOP  GORE  ON  CHURCH  UNITY 

"We  may  feel  quite  sure  that  by  far  the  most  important  con- 
tribution we  can  make  to  the  cause  of  unity  among  Christians  in 
the  future  is  by  developing  the  strength  and  meaning  of  our  own 
communion.  The  logic  of  events  works  slowly;  but  the  decay  of 
the  distinctive  forms  and  barriers  of  Protestantism,  and  the  rise 
of  national  Christian  churches  in  Africa  and  China  and  Japan  and 
India  may,  nay  must,  produce  a  profound  change  in  the  religious 
situation.  The  world's  need  of  a  liberal  Catholicism  will  surely 
become  increasingly  apparent.  And  what  doom  should  not  we 
deserve  if  we  of  the  Church  of  England  had  failed  to  make  its 
possibility  and  its  reality  apparent? 

When  we  look  beyond  our  borders,  and  ask  ourselves  what 
we  ought  to  be  doing  towards  the  recovery  of  Christian  com- 
munion, I  do  not  think  that  we  shall  be  encouraged  to  believe 
that  any  project  of  'corporate  reunion'  is  at  all  near  to  realization 
at  present.  But  if  we  repent,  each  within  his  own  communion, 
of  our  sins  against  unity  and  the  shortcomings  of  our  own 
part  of  the  church,  we  shall  lose  our  narrowness.  We 
shall  become  conscious  how  far  our  own  communion  is  from 
having  or  being  all  that  is  catholic.  We  shall  see  how  much  others 
have  to  teach  us.  We  shall  seek  to  know  more  about  other  com- 
munions, laying  aside  any  remains  or  traces  of  pride  or  self-suffi- 
ciency or  contempt.  When  we  go  abroad  as  visitors,  we  shall  make 
it  our  religious  interest  and  duty,  as  far  as  is  compatible  with 
'making  our  communions,'  to  associate  ourselves  with  the  religious 
worship  of  the  country  we  are  travelling  in.  So  far  as  we  are 
students,  we  shall  do  our  best  to  avail  ourselves  of  and  to  promote 
the  communism  in  theological  science  which  already  exists.  At 
home  we  shall  make  the  most  of  our  opportunities  of  co-operation 
with  Nonconformists  for  social  and  philanthropic  objects.  We  shall 
not  only  pray  ourselves,  but  join  with  our  fellow-Christians  in 
prayer,  wherever  we  can  on  really  neutral  ground,  for  the  promo- 


APPENDIX  245 

tion  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  But  we  shall  be  very  chary  of 
doing  anything  which  promotes  the  prevalent  undenominational 
spirit.  To  use  the  very  ugly  word,  for  which,  however,  there  is 
no  substitute,  interdenominational  action  is  permissible,  but  not 
what  is  undenominational.  We  should  encourage  all  men  to  be 
as  definitely  and  consistently  as  possible  members  not  only  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  general,  but  also  of  the  particular  body  to 
which  in  good  conscience  they  belong.  The  Christianity  from  which 
nothing  can  grow  is  the  Christianity  which  ignores  the  obligation 
of  definite  membership  and  a  definite  creed. 

I  do  not  attempt  to  decide  what  an  officer  of  the  Church  of 
England  may  or  may  not,  consistently  with  his  loyalty  to  his  own 
church,  do  for  or  among  members  of  other  communions.  But 
of  this  I  am  quite  sure,  that  whatever  he  may  think  it  right  to  do, 
so  far  as  his  own  judgment  goes,  he  should  ask  himself  before 
he  does  it  what  its  effect  will  be  on  his  own  communion.  It  is, 
I  am  persuaded,  in  the  making  our  own  communion  more  coherent 
and  more  intelligible  that  our  real  contribution  to  the  cause  of  unity 
must  for  the  present  lie.     (Italics  ours.) 

It  is  much  more  than  waste  of  time  for  adherents  of  different 
religious  parties  in  the  Anglican  communion  to  seek  a  chief  advan- 
tage by  calling  attention  to  the  faults  or  mistakes  of  other  parties. 
We  have  all  been  foolish,  we  have  all  sinned.  But  I  venture  to 
believe  that  the  call  to  us  now  is  to  assert  our  agreement  in  the 
maintenance  of  the  creeds  and  episcopal  order,  and  the  doctrinal 
supremacy  of  Scripture,  and  the  intelligent  and  intelligible  use 
of  the  Prayer  Book  and  the  catechism;  and  on  the  basis  of  this 
agreement  to  be  deliberately  tolerant,  so  far  as  the  maintenance  of 
public  discipline  goes,  of  ceremonial  differences,  and  doctrinal  dif- 
ferences on  secondary  matters;  and  to  labour  patiently  for  the 
recovery  of  the  church's  spiritual  liberties  and  the  removal  of 
practical  abuses." — Orders  and  Unity. — C.  Gore. 


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